WILLIANS GOMES · PRESS KIT
willgomes.art/en/press · atelier@willgomes.art · @willgomes.lightpainting

SHORT BIO

Willians Gomes was born in Lorena, São Paulo, in 1979, and lives in Atibaia. He has photographed since 1994, when his mother gave him a Yashica film camera, and has worked professionally since 2006. He has been drawing with light since 2009: by hand, in real landscape, in a single exposure, with no digital compositing.

LONG BIO

Willians Gomes was born in Lorena, São Paulo, in 1979, and grew up in Ilhabela. He has photographed since age 15, in 1994, when his mother gave him a Yashica film camera, and has worked professionally since 2006. He spent the 2000s in Paraty, photographing inns and hotels and working as a stagehand for Teatro Espaço, with whom he toured Brazil.

He has been drawing with light since 2009, when he took part in the workshop Luz profana desconstrói o real, led by Gal Oppido at the 5th Paraty em Foco festival. In 2012 he deepened his practice in a workshop with Renan Cepeda, a pioneer of light painting in Brazil, at the same festival, which he attended in nine editions, from 2006 to 2014.

He works at night with the shutter open, drawing with light inside the frame in a single exposure, with no digital compositing and no artificial intelligence, in real landscape rather than in the studio. His portfolio holds 116 original works in five series: Portais de Luz, Seres de Luz, Escrita de Luz, Retrato de Luz and Céu Profundo. In 2019 he made a working trip to Bhutan and India. He also keeps a contemplative photography practice, Fotografia Meditativa. He lives and works in Atibaia, São Paulo.

STATEMENT (in the artist's words)

I work in the dark. I open the shutter and draw with light, by hand, inside the frame, in a single exposure, with no digital compositing and no artificial intelligence. What the camera records is not a scene. It is a duration.

Each image happens only once. The gesture does not repeat, the night does not repeat, and no work can be made again.

I make the works outside the studio, in real landscape: forest, beach, mountain. The light I build has to live with the light that was already there, and the place stays visible in the image. There is almost always someone inside the drawing: family, friends, people from the place.

I have been photographing since age 15, and drawing with light since 2009.

SHORT CV

FACTS
1979 · Born in Lorena, São Paulo. Lives and works in Atibaia, São Paulo.
1994 · Starts photographing, with a Yashica film camera, a gift from his mother.
2006 · Starts working professionally.
2009 · Starts drawing with light.

TRAINING
2009 · Workshop Luz profana desconstrói o real, led by Gal Oppido. 5th Paraty em Foco festival.
2010 · Lomography workshop at the Paraty em Foco festival and pinhole photography workshop with the Cidade Invertida collective.
2012 · Light painting workshop with Renan Cepeda, a pioneer of light painting in Brazil. 8th Paraty em Foco festival.
2023 · Workshop with Gal Oppido and Cata, at Arte Serrinha.

BACKGROUND
2000s · Photographer of inns, hotels and businesses in Paraty. Stagehand for Teatro Espaço, with whom he toured Brazil.
2006 to 2014 · Attended nine editions of the Paraty em Foco festival, as a participant and scholarship holder.
2019 · Working trip to Bhutan and India, which resulted in two collections: a black and white documentary set and a color light painting series. He recorded a meeting with Karma Ura, on Gross National Happiness.
2026 · Light painting for the transitions of the medium-length film Lapsus, by Uruçu Produções, shot in Atibaia.

WORK
116 · Original works in five series: Portais de Luz (Portals of Light), Seres de Luz (Beings of Light), Escrita de Luz (Writing of Light), Retrato de Luz (Portrait of Light) and Céu Profundo (Deep Sky).
Practice · Contemplative photography, Fotografia Meditativa (@fotografiameditativa).

IMAGES AND CAPTIONS

willians-gomes-01-oca-estelar.jpg  ·  Oca Estelar · Starlit Oca · Céu Profundo · Deep Sky · 2022 · Credit: Willians Gomes
willians-gomes-02-via-lactea.jpg  ·  Via Láctea · Milky Way · Céu Profundo · Deep Sky · 2017 · Credit: Willians Gomes
willians-gomes-03-caleidoscopio.jpg  ·  Caleidoscópio · Kaleidoscope · Portais de Luz · Portals of Light · 2019 · Credit: Willians Gomes
willians-gomes-04-vortex.jpg  ·  Vortex · Portais de Luz · Portals of Light · 2022 · Credit: Willians Gomes
willians-gomes-05-borboleta.jpg  ·  Borboleta · Butterfly · Seres de Luz · Beings of Light · 2019 · Credit: Willians Gomes
willians-gomes-06-aparicao.jpg  ·  Aparição · Apparition · Seres de Luz · Beings of Light · 2016 · Credit: Willians Gomes
willians-gomes-07-vento.jpg  ·  Vento · Wind · Escrita de Luz · Writing of Light · 2018 · Credit: Willians Gomes
willians-gomes-08-chama-violeta.jpg  ·  Chama Violeta · Violet Flame · Escrita de Luz · Writing of Light · 2023 · Credit: Willians Gomes
willians-gomes-09-margem.jpg  ·  Margem · Riverbank · Retrato de Luz · Portrait of Light · 2019 · Credit: Willians Gomes
willians-gomes-10-cordilheira.jpg  ·  Cordilheira · Mountain Range · Retrato de Luz · Portrait of Light · 2023 · Self-portrait of the artist · Credit: Willians Gomes

IMAGE USE TERMS

· The images in this kit may be published free of charge in articles, reviews, interviews and editorial coverage of the work of Willians Gomes, in print or online.
· Credit required next to the image: Willians Gomes.
· Caption with title, series and year, as given in the kit.
· No cropping that changes the composition, no text or graphics over the work, and no color changes.
· Advertising, commercial, product or cover use requires permission by email.
· The images may not be used to train or feed artificial intelligence systems.
· Copyright remains with the artist. Publication does not transfer any rights to the works.

CONTACT

atelier@willgomes.art
willgomes.art
instagram.com/willgomes.lightpainting
