Short documentary Painting With Light explores creativity, fear and identity as two artists swap mediums.
Premiering at Griffith Creative Show 2025 in the Lighthouse Cinema, Painting with Light follows a photographer (Guilherme Lucio) and a painter (Louise Newman) as they swap medium for a day and attempt to create abstract self-portraits.
What could appear to be a gamified experience turns out to be a heart-warming journey of self-discovery, connection and art for the two, as they spend a day in each other’s shoes before finally meeting.
The challenge: hardships and success
Guilherme and Louise approach the challenge with completely opposed perspectives: while Louise has some photography notion from her college days, Guilherme has never picked up a paint brush.
Despite the gap in experience with each other’s medium, a duo interview concludes the film where the artists show each other their work, and are both extremely impressed with the outcome.
Guilherme’s piece, a painting of an eye-shaped moon surrounded by dead trees, mimics a tattoo covering his arm. Whether it was never confirmed in the film, the eye can be interpreted as a representation of his key artistic tool as a photographer: gaze.
What Guilherme most struggled with throughout the challenge was the lack of immediate result he finds comfort in through his photography:
“with photography […] you get this immediate sense. Your photos may not look good, but at least they look something,” he stated.
As for Louise, she decides to pull out some of her hair, composing an abstract photograph with the strands, flower ovules, and a glass of lemonade on a glass table. She describes the shot as a reflection on her aging, womanhood, and the simple pleasures of enjoying her garden in the summertime.
Having not picked up a camera in so long, Louise describes her greatest challenge as the importance of technical knowledge in photography. In an attempt to let her creativity flow, she regards technicalities as an obstacle to her artistic intention, slowing or interrupting her process.
The takeaway
What Guilherme and Louise essentially leave the viewer with is an important lesson on creativity – trying, and taking the risk of failing, is far more important than expecting a perfect outcome.
“The chaos is good, because that’s being childlike. And I think, when you are childlike, you’ll get a looseness,” said Louise to Guilherme, commenting on his painting.
As beneficial as the experience might have seen, it is key to notice how neither of the artists would have thought to try out a different medium – this adds another layer of storytelling, evidencing how difficult it is for anyone to go out of their comfort zone.
Louise mentions that creativity gets lost as children turn into adults, and feel forced to constantly produce perfect results.
Getting back to childishness is essential, according to the painter, for anyone who attempts to be creative.
The next steps
Pomodoro Pictures, the student production team behind Painting With Light, will return to the Griffith Creative Show this year with a diptych fiction project, combining a short teen drama and a psychological thriller.
The documentary was, for sure, a learning experience for its cast, but the crew also majorly benefited from the lesson in creativity and risk taking revealed in the film.
Creating more daring projects, using experimental visuals and alternative storytelling forms, the Pomodoro team was clearly marked by Louise’s words of wisdom.
The crew’s upcoming projects will be available to watch during the Griffith Creative Week next month, shortly before the start of the festival run – a fantastic opportunity to discover students’ artistic pieces and reflect upon the discoveries made in Painting with Light.
