Presentation on famous night photographer Troy Paiva, showing his works and life history.

1. TROY PAIVA
BY
SITABH GUPTA

2. • Light painting photographerTroy Paiva has been capturing night imagery since 1989.
He considers himself an “Urban Explorer” and says that his light painting photography
is a byproduct of his passion for investigating the ruins of “LostAmerica”.
• Troy spends much of his time alone, in the middle of nowhere, photographing
abandon building and places that America has lost to time.The sense of isolation and
loneliness drawsTroy to these locations, he says, “I love the surreal feeling of
wandering through an abandoned subdivision, alone, in the middle of nowhere, in the
middle of the night.Your senses become heightened and you feel the weight of time.”
• Troy has written a book about his time spent light painting in these forgotten places
called “NightVision:TheArt of Urban Exploration”.

3. Troy Paiva has been an artist all his life. From sitting in
the back row in grade school and drawing cars and
airplanes on his notebooks to the freelance design of
mass market toy products for major corporations like
Hasbro,Wham-o! and Mattel.
• As a child, taking several trips through the desert opened
Troy’s eyes to the great beauty of the American
Southwest.
• As a teenager, he would take two or three day, 2000 mile
drives through the vast desert wastelands with a group of
friends, he always volunteered to take the late night
driving shifts and watched with fascination and
amazement, all the abandoned roadside buildings and
deserted towns.
• It wasn’t until his late 20’s, that Paiva picked up
photography as a new way to be creative.
• It wasn’t until the late 80’s untilTroy discovered the
mysterious beauty of night photography.

4. Light painted captures of abandoned locations and junkyards

5. He only shoots at night, by the light of the full moon, using minutes-long exposures to
capture the palpable passage of time onto a single frame. He augments the scene with
hand-held light–frequently colored–during the exposure, treating the site like a dark
stage set, using theatrical and cinematic techniques to manage the composition, create
mood, and lead the viewer’s eye. It’s about tightly controlling the scene, even though
the scene itself is wildly entropic and out of control.

6. His imagery has appeared in print, in over a dozen countries–including three Stephen King book
covers–and two award-winning monographs: “Lost America: Night Photography of the
abandoned Roadside West“ in 2003 (Motorbooks International), and “NightVision:The Art of
Urban Exploration” in 2008 (Chronicle Books).The work has appeared in museums and galleries
in NewYork, Los Angeles, London, Sweden and San Francisco.
Troy Paiva has landed his images on the covers of three Stephen King
novels

7. Published books
Lost America: Night Photography of the
abandoned Roadside West
Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration
Troy has published 2 books so far

8. Lost America
• Troy Paiva created his photography website “Lost America” in 1998.
• His website features a lot of his brilliant, but haunting and mysterious photos.

9. Troy’s photographs from a decommissioned military base