As lighting artists, we should always use chiaroscuro to our advantage. We need to respect that the power of darkness is just as powerful as the brilliance of luminosity. We know that the most important part of our job is equal parts light and shadow. We can easily forget that highlighting a soloist who wants to be lit is just as important as shading a drummer who does not. It’s too easy to lose the focal point if everyone is given the same intensity. A well-balanced front light is great for a chorus but disappointing for a string-shredding orgy of power chords. We need to tip the scales from one end of the spectrum to the other as often as possible. Our creations are based just as much on what we light as what we don’t.
Chris Lose, from “LD-at-Large,” PLSN, Feb. 2021, page 28
