Every still life light painting of vintage electronics tells a story—and End of an Era might be my most nostalgic creation yet. This fine art photograph celebrates the beauty of obsolete technology and the craftsmanship that once defined an era. It’s both a personal reflection and a tribute to the world that first inspired my love of light and form.
This piece takes me back to 1975, when I was a young electronics technician learning the craft. Back then, televisions glowed with vacuum tubes and cathode ray tubes (CRT), humming softly in living rooms across America. My trusted Simpson analog multimeter was always at hand—the gold standard for accuracy at the time.
Repairing a TV in those days wasn’t just a job; it was art. You needed steady hands, a good soldering iron—mine was a Weller—and the patience to follow a faint signal through a maze of components. Today, with integrated circuits and compact PCBs, soldering by hand has become a lost skill, a quiet casualty of modern convenience.
The CRT featured in End of an Era came from a rear-projection television that once filled our family room with light and laughter. When it was time to discard it, the TV was far too heavy to move whole, so I disassembled it piece by piece. Inside, I rediscovered the elegant design of its components—three small tubes, one for each color: red, green, and blue.
As I examined those parts, I realized I was looking not at junk, but at history—a tangible reminder of how far technology has come. That sense of discovery became the foundation for this still life composition.
Like all my still life light paintings, this photograph was created in complete darkness. Using a hand-held light source, I selectively illuminated each surface and texture, layer by layer. The light painting technique transforms the CRT and tools into something more than objects—they become symbols of an era of innovation and analog beauty.
Each highlight is intentional, each shadow sculpted with care. The process mirrors how I once approached electronics troubleshooting: one connection at a time, searching for the perfect signal.
End of an Era: The Flat Screen TV Cathode Ray Tube is both a farewell and a celebration—a meditation on how quickly technology changes and how memory can preserve its glow. It connects my two worlds: my early life as an electrical engineer and my present as a fine art photographer.
In this piece, the vintage electronics are not discarded relics; they’re illuminated monuments to creativity, curiosity, and craftsmanship.
If you’re interested in adding The Flat Screen TV Cathode Ray Tube to your collection, framed prints are available for purchase at the Pittsboro Gallery of Arts in downtown Pittsboro. You can also order a print directly from my Store. And if you’d like something uniquely tailored—perhaps a custom size or presentation—feel free to contact me; I’d love to create something special just for you.
