The artist

About the work

Willians Gomes has photographed for over thirty years and has been drawing with light since 2009. He lives in Atibaia, São Paulo.

None of these images existed for anyone else. Only for me, in the dark.

I work in the dark. I open the shutter and draw with light, by hand, inside the frame, in a single exposure. 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. That is why the limited edition, here, is not a sales strategy. It is a description of what these works are.

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. Since 2009, I have been drawing with light. I walk slowly, look a lot, photograph little.

Nothing here is made with AI or with digital compositing. Each image is drawn in the camera, in the dark, in real time.

Artist. I do not photograph events. Commercial commissions are rare, at a fee in line with original work.

Press · kit with texts and images →

Willians Gomes before the mountain at night, the infinity symbol traced in light
Willians Gomes, self-portrait in light
Eight hours of night sky in fifteen seconds, in the mountains of Cunha, São Paulo
Background

Over thirty years of photography

Brazil · Bhutan · India · Spain · France · festivals, book and retreats. Ongoing.

9

Editions of the Paraty em Foco festival, alongside Walter Firmo, Gal Oppido and Renan Cepeda. It was there, in 2009, in a workshop led by Gal Oppido, that he began drawing with light.

2006 · 2014
8

Chapters of the book Pintando com Luz · Painting with Light, in progress.

Book · ongoing
5

Countries of photographic fieldwork: Brazil, Bhutan, India, Spain and France. Studio in Atibaia, São Paulo.

Field · contemplative
30+

Years of photography, professionally since 2006. His first camera was a Yashica film camera, a gift from his mother. His first collection for sale was launched in May 2026.

Since 1994
Activities

Other practices

The work does not end on the wall. See all practices →

Workshops

Hands-on immersion in light painting, from the gesture to the finished image. Small groups, in the dark.

In person · Brazil
Retreats

Contemplative photography retreats. Walk slowly, look closely, photograph little.

Bhutan · India · Spain · France · Brazil
Miksang

Meditative photography in the Tibetan contemplative tradition. Individual and group practice.

Practice · ongoing
Exhibitions

A curator, gallery or space that would like to host the works: the conversation starts at the studio.

Invitation · open
Tempo Único

An edition of unique works with verifiable provenance. Condensed duration becomes property.

Edition · in preparation