LIGHT FANTASTIC – The Art, Science, And Future Of Lighting Design
Session details:
A 30-minute session with Ralph Larmann, initiator, editor, and publisher of the LIGHT FANTASTIC 2026 Edition
Sixteen years after the last edition of Max Keller’s landmark reference work, LIGHT FANTASTIC returns in a completely reimagined and extensively expanded 2026 edition.Originally conceived as an update of a classic, the project evolved over almost three years into a monumental 488-page exploration of light as both an artistic medium and a technical discipline, featuring more than 940 photographs, illustrations, drawings and diagrams, as well as new contributions from some of the world’s leading lighting designers, artists and specialists.
In this 30-minute session, photographer, publisher and editor Ralph Larmann, who initiated the new edition, takes the audience behind the scenes of this extraordinary project and explores the ideas at the heart of the book: How do we see light? How do we understand it? And how do we use it to create emotion, atmosphere, space and visual storytelling?
Larmann will trace the journey from Max Keller’s original work to the new 2026 edition, reveal how sixteen years of technological and creative development have been incorporated into the book, and share examples from its remarkable visual and editorial content.
But the story also raises a broader question. After almost three years of bringing together the work, knowledge and perspectives of numerous authors, lighting designers, artists, photographers and industry partners in one carefully curated physical publication, Larmann will reflect on what this project has taught him as a publisher and photographer – and what it may mean for the books he wants to create in the future.
At a time when information is increasingly immediate, digital and AI-generated, what role can an ambitious, carefully edited and beautifully produced book still play? Can books become even more important as lasting places for knowledge, authorship, visual culture and inspiration?
More than a technical reference, LIGHT FANTASTIC is a treasury of knowledge and inspiration for everyone who creates with light – across theatre, concerts and live entertainment, architecture, television, exhibitions and beyond.
The session also looks forward: as lighting technology continues to evolve and artificial intelligence begins to influence the creative process, what remains fundamental to the human art of designing with light?
From the accumulated knowledge of generations to the possibilities of tomorrow, LIGHT FANTASTIC is ultimately about one timeless question: What can we create with light?
