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Brushstrokes in Light by Ram Bilgrai Photography

Brushstrokes in Light is a truly masterful collection of photographs by emerging artist, Ram Bilgrai. Designed to both inspire and challenge you, this exhibit literally combines two artforms – painting and photography – to create stunningly beautiful images that will be on display at La Foto Gallery from July 28th through September 29th. An artist reception will be held on July 28th at 7:30pm and an artists lecture will be September 29th. Both events are free to the public.

The artist, Ram Bilgrai, found his inspiration for this work from his upbringing in Israel and from a photography class with instructor Marissa Lopez-Donatt (owner of La Foto Gallery) at Santa Monica College. “The political and sociological situation in Israel inspired me to explore and capture various moods and themes around me. I found that my photography was a way for me to express what I was struggling with internally and an effective medium for exposing people to what I see.” Bilgrai stated.

The inspiration for how he would create these images came from a color photography printing class taught by Marissa Lopez-Donnatt. Among the many techniques taught in her class, she teaches a technique called “painting with light” where her students are challenged to control technique but create inspiring images. In this technique, photographers are literally using light as a paint brush to create their images. After experimenting with this technique in class, Ram wanted to stretch and challenge himself creatively and saw a way to bring his visions to life in a very unique way. Although his images are thought-provoking, they are expressive both visually and cerebrally.

To further challenge himself, Ram photographs his subjects in downtown Los Angeles. The images are created at night so they are not polluted with daylight but he utilizes ambient lighting as a prop for his backgrounds and controls his main light, knowing how much of his subject is revealed with the light. Using flashlights, lasers and off camera flash units with colored gels, Ram opens the shutter on his camera and begins to paint his subjects. Finding the female form a fascinating subject to work with, as most painters and artists have been doing for centuries, his subjects are nude and are painted in a very technical manner but with a unique touch of art and form to portray the female body with a natural sense of elegance - expressing his inner soul. Coming full circle, Bilgrai and his photography instructor Marissa Lopez are collaborating on bringing this exhibit to life. Lopez-Donatt is curator of the work for the show and continues to work with Ram technically and creatively. After seeing how far he had taken the concept, Marissa encouraged him to do an exhibit at her gallery, La Foto, Inc. in Santa Monica.

You can see more of Ram Bilgrai work at Photographer in Los Angeles Bilgrai Photography

Article published in artscenecal.com link to the Article Also in the Santa Monica Mirror in July 27 of 2007