PDN explores Tobias Hutzler’s “light drawings” and the commercial assignments they’ve inspired

From using pure moonlight to shoot cars in the desert to casting a net of lights into the sea and setting a long exposure, photographer and director Tobias Hutzler has spent more than a year experimenting with light and how it interacts with the landscape. The results, which he describes as “light drawings,” are striking—and have led to assignments from Sony, GEO, and Road & Track, among others.

“I’m interested in light and its interaction with the landscape,” Tobias tells PDN, which interviewed him about his light drawings for its March issue. (Click here or scroll down to read the interview.) “It’s not me that’s drawing. It’s nature.”

See more of his light drawings at stocklandmartel.com/hutzler and at his website, tobiashutzler.com.

Tobias tied hundreds of small lights to a large net and cast the net into the ocean for this photograph, one of many he created for the indie band Magic Man’s album Before the Waves. “We wanted to take the idea of an unusual phenomenon in a natural setting to another level. Tobias’ light paintings were thge answer,” Dave Bett, design director at Sony Music Entertainment’s Columbia Records division, tells PDN. Click photo to see more.

From a feature for GEO magazine shot on location in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where Tobias went on an expedition with scientists from the Royal Ontario Museum. “I focused on the magic of the scientists’ discoveries and the fascinating experience of being in the untouched wilderness,” he says. Click photo to see more.

Tobias shot this cover image for Road & Track in the dead of night, using only moonlight as his light source. Click photo to see more.

A collaboration with the artist Mariko Endo. Click to see more.

From a personal series shot at night in the California desert. Click photo to see more.

From a personal series shot in New York City during the blackout of 2013. Click photo to see more.

Click to enlarge.

This entry was written by Kristina Feliciano and posted on 02/27/2015 at 2:14 pm and filed under news & commentary with tags PDN, Tobias Hutzler. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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