17-Jul-2019
Death of Lord Nelson at Trafalgar, displayed at Boscobel Mansion, Garrison, New York, 2019
This work of art, commemorating England's heroic naval victory over Napoleon's fleet in 1805 at Trafalgar, hangs in the Boscobel Mansion's library. Boscobel was once the home of Elizabeth Dyckman, a woman loyal to the British Crown. She became a widow in 1806, just as this house was being built, and only a year after Nelson's death. It is likely that she hung this print in her home as a gesture of both pride and sadness.
The print itself tells a bittersweet story, with its hero perishing in the arms of his subordinates just as victory beckoned. I wanted to make a photograph of this print that told my own story. I noticed that the glass in print's frame was reflecting a flowing curtain elsewhere in the room. I framed only the most significant part of this print, and also changed my camera position, moving the reflection so that it fills only the lower left hand corner of my frame. The reflected curtain can now be interpreted as the spirit leaving the hero's dying body, and with it, the meaning of the entire picture changes.
17-OCT-2013
Hotel, Times Square, New York City, New York, 2013
Times Square offers more incongruous sights than probably any other area of New York City. The surrounding buildings are clothed in electricity and glass, creating a reflective arena that bends the eye and boggles the mind. I found this scene reflected in the glass façade of a Times Square hotel, a shimmering collage of shapes, colors, and patterns that demand attention and enliven the imagination. The reflections are constantly changing as the viewer’s positions and the light itself changes. The pair of flags, meanwhile, remains fairly constant, offering a predictable counterpoint to an unpredictable scene.
18-OCT-2013
Subway car, New York City, New York, 2013
The vertical streaks of light reflecting off the side of an out of service subway car are echoed by the vertical posts in the foreground and the vertical posts seen through the windows in the background. The dim overhead light fixtures repeat the vertical patterns as well. The yellow “out of service” sign creates a focal point, a place for the eye to begin its exploration of this image.
11-FEB-2013
Suwannee River, White Springs, Florida, 2013
The Suwannee River lives in American folklore as the locale for Stephen Foster’s 1851 minstrel show song beginning with the famous words “Way down upon the Swanee River.” (Foster intentionally misspelled the river’s name to fit the melody of the song.) The Suwannee River is romanticized in that song, officially known as “Old Folks at Home.” (Foster never saw the Suwannee, and never visited Florida. He lived in Pittsburgh.) Although Foster’s lyrics used an archaic slave dialect that now seems to romanticize slavery and are often interpreted as racism against Black Americans, the Suwannee River itself will forever be linked to Foster and his world-famous song. I did not want to photograph the Suwannee River descriptively. It looks just like any other Southern river. Rather, I turn to reflection to speak of the mysteries that seem to flow within its currents. By abstracting this image, I cause those currents to turn trees into abstract wiggly probes, and vegetation into a green palette floating upon silvery powder. The name Suwannee lives only in the context – while the image itself lives entirely in the imagination.
08-JAN-2013
Lighting up, Palm Springs, California, 2013
Smoking in public is now a no-no in most places in the US, but not at this California cigar store. It has even placed a smoker’s table and chairs on its sidewalk, and this fellow, cigar in hand, has made himself right at home. The window behind him offers context, and one of its panels reflects the moment to double the pleasure. Because he has removed his shoes and uses another chair as a footrest, we can see his sock echoing the upward thrust of his fingers in the reflection as well. As I photographed him from across the street, he said something to a by-stander standing just out of the frame, energizing the image with his facial expression
09-MAY-2011
Art Museum, Scottsdale Civic Center, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2011
The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art features reflective signage mirroring the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, which stands just across the sidewalk. The reflection changes the appearance of the desert plantings that line that sidewalk, creating a work of abstract art by merging two artistic institutions into one.
17-OCT-2009
St. Michael’s Monastery of the Golden Domes, Kiev, Ukraine, 2009
This church, the headquarters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was built only eight years ago. The original monasteries on this spot, were built from the 12th century on – the last of them was completely destroyed by Stalin 1937. It remained an empty lot until the Ukranian president ordered this reconstruction in 2001. I wanted to make the shiny new church seem more of an ancient vision, and less of a picture postcard. It had rained heavily the day before, and a drying puddle caught its reflection nicely. I photographed the reflection so that the building was cut off by paving stones at the top, and then turned it upside down to make the building seem to rise out of those stones and into a textured sky. A tire track arches across that sky, creating a stylized rainbow over the reflected golden domes. The monasteries of old seem reborn here.
20-SEP-2009
Flags, Montreal, Canada, 2009
I use reflection in a store window here to abstract a set of international flags flying over a nearby restaurant. The early morning light passes through the flags, creating translucence and vivid coloration. The wavy surface of the glass in this old store distorts the flags and molds the translucent color into repeating patterns.
03-OCT-2009
Convention Centers, Vancouver, Canada, 2009
The series of iconic “sails” that distinguish Vancouver’s old convention center at Canada Place reflects here in the windows of city’s new convention center, just across the way. The new building has yet to open, but already it seems to be intimately connected to its predecessor.
24-SEP-2009
The Royal York, Toronto, Canada, 2009
Three centuries of architecture come together in this image. A 21st century office building reflects an ethereal visage of the early 20th century, green turreted Royal York Hotel, while a late 19th century office building provides contrast at left. I integrate the scene by including a spray of leaves at right, which point at the old office structure and overlap the reflected image.
22-SEP-2009
Gilded reflection, Toronto, Canada, 2009
The Royal Bank of Canada’s headquarters building in Toronto has more than 1,400 windows, all of them coated with a layer of 24-carat gold. The gilding, intended as an insulating material, added $70 to the cost of each window, an expense of more than a million dollars. The golden windows reflect adjoining banking institutions that make Toronto the financial center of Canada. This image offers just such a gilded reflection -- albeit somewhat bent out of shape -- an appropriate symbol for those who make (or lose) money with money in these troubled times.
25-JUL-2009
Historical harmony, Ipswich, Massachusetts, 2009
A figure out of Ipswich history is painted on the side of this building, once used as a mill by General Electric. His head is cocked, as if he is listening to voices from the past. Next to him, old window glass reflects a distorted view of another old building in the town. I honed down the image to just these two elements. Together they achieve a sense of historical harmony.
26-JUN-2009
Chihuly Bridge of Glass, Tacoma, Washington, 2009
This 500 foot long bridge links downtown Tacoma to its waterway. Conceived by Tacoma artist Dale Chihuly, the bridge features more than 2,000 glass objects placed on a plate glass ceiling. I aimed my lens up at the objects, which are illuminated by natural light. The plate glass ceiling reflects the walkway below it, along with two people viewing the art. My reflected image makes the people part of the art, and that echoes Chihuly’s point in conceiving the bridge.
19-JUN-2009
Ghosts, Jacksonville, Oregon, 2009
Jacksonville is an amazingly well preserved Victorian town. Its streets are lined with 19th century buildings, including this old structure which stands on a side street like an old ghost. I noticed two clouds hanging directly over the building. The sky and pair of clouds that begin at the top of the frame seem to continue via reflections within the pair of windows at the bottom of the frame. This image makes the building seem to be transparent, and even more ghostly than it is.
11-JUN-2009
A city abstracted, Phoenix, Arizona, 2009
Eight windows, each of them reflecting a different aspect of the building across the street. No two reflections are alike here – the window materials color them, distort them, and retain them. There were dozens of such windows, but I choose only eight here to create a simplified matrix of the mysterious.
12-OCT-2008
Tram stop shelter, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2008
The panels on the back of this tram stop shelter reflect colors and shapes reminiscent of an abstract painting. The only recognizable features are the windows that echo the vertical shapes of the panels. Meanwhile, all six chairs stand empty, allowing the glow of the reflected to colors to embrace them as well.
19-MAY-2008
Garden of time, Columbia, California, 2008
Columbia is a perfectly restored Gold Rush town. In fact, it looks a bit too perfect. Every image I made of its old buildings looked like post card views. To overcome this issue, I searched for ways to abstract the town so that we could look into the past without seeing the present. As I walked Columbia’s streets, I noticed that many of the windows in the restored 19th century buildings were original – the glass produced wavy reflections. I then focused my attention on those wavy reflections until I found one that best characterized the Gold Rush era. This image was the result – an abstracted vision of softly focused and slightly distorted buildings and gardens carrying us back into time itself.
18-MAY-2008
Reflection in a car window, Placerville, California, 2008
Instead of describing the entire car, I move in to stress the light passing through the glass bricks reflecting on its partially open window. The effect is haunting, and matches the materials of the period to the era of the car itself. I converted the image to black and white, because the car and the design of the glass brick window look like they belonged to an era of black and white photography. The reflection of the glass brick window also divides past from present – we stand in the present, yet whispers from the past can be imagined coming from the dark interior of the car.
18-MAY-2008
Reflected colors, Placerville, California, 2008
This is the same old car that appears in the preceding image. I simply lowered my camera to stress the play of light across the body from the glass brick window, and use color to characterize the beauty of its reflection. The reflected object is a yellow house that is partially visible through a glass brick window. My choice of shady white balance turns the reflection coppery. The curved fender and the chrome handle and lock add automotive context to the glowing light on the body of the car.
02-APR-2008
Sunset, Kerala Backwaters, India, 2008
I caught the reflection of the setting sun on the traditional ornamental bow of a Kerala houseboat. I show very little of the hull, as I allow the golden panels of reflected light to symbolize the Keralan culture on their own.
22-MAR-2008
Impromptu dance, Delhi, India, 2008
These children were at play on a marble terrace surrounding a Hindu temple. It was late in the day and the reflection of the sun on the marble was blinding. I abstract the children by backlighting them and cropping most of them out of the frame. What they leave behind is pure exuberance.
02-APR-2008
Cormorant, Kerala Backwaters, India, 2008
We saw thousands of Cormorants on these waters. This one is drying its wings. The abstracting power of the reflection here is as important as the bird on the stick. It makes the image shimmer in green and copper, leaving the cormorant alone with nature.
09-JAN-2008
Vanishing sunset, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2008
On my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, sunsets (and sun itself, for that matter) were hard to come by. December in this part of the world often brings overcast weather. However we had nothing but sun during the day and a half we spent in Cambodia at the end of the trip. We wanted to make our last sunset a special shot. To do so, we asked our guide and driver to travel west into the sunset, while we looked for places that might add a worthwhile context. It was race against both time and weather. We could see the sun sinking in front of us, and we could also see a massive cloudbank reaching up from the horizon, ready to swallow it. With only seconds to spare we spotted a large field of morning glories off to the left. We found a platform that overlooked those fields and saw to our delight that the fields were flooded with water that reflected the setting sun back up at us. I had time to make about three pictures before the sun vanished into the cloudbank. I liked this one the best because it shows the least sun. Only a crescent remains, which to me, at least, is more abstract and less literal than a whole sun would be. What is most important here is the context offered to the setting sun by the reflection in the morning glory fields. We do not see the sun itself in the reflection, but instead the effect of the sun. There is still room here for the imagination of the viewer to work.
01-JAN-2008
A face in the window, Mekong Ferry, Ben Tre, Vietnam, 2008
There was a distant caution on this child’s face, peering out at me from the back seat of a van being hauled across the Mekong River on a ferryboat. However just as important as the face is the reflection that descends over the image from the top. The child is already peering out from behind a curtain. The reflection adds a secondary curtain that suggests his isolation from the outside world. He appears somewhat sad and very vulnerable –we were used to getting big smiles and “V” signs flashed at us by Vietnamese kids, yet this young boy never altered his cautious demeanor.
18-DEC-2007
Water puppets, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2007
Water puppetry is one of the most authentic expressions of Vietnamese culture. Hiding backstage, puppeteers standing waist deep in water maneuver large wooden figures carved from fig trees. Backed by live music and song, the puppets tell stories of ancient warrior heroes, corrupt landlords, and cruel rulers. I was more interested in the uniqueness of the context around these puppets than the appearance of the puppets themselves. As I shot my images of them, I watched the patterns reflected in the water as closely as I watched the puppets. And when these reflected patterns significantly extended themselves, as they do here, I made my images. More than half of this picture is a swirl of magical colors – it is if a palette of paint has been placed just below the surface of the water. It is that shimmer of color that brings life to this image and takes it beyond literal description.
08-NOV-2007
Golden puddle, Canyon de Chelly National Park, Arizona, 2007
Just before sunset, the puddles on the canyon floor turn gold, because of the intense light on the surrounding cliffs. Instead of photographing those cliffs, I shot their reflections. They may show us less of the canyon itself, yet they somehow say more. When I look at this image, I feel as I am flying high above a flooded landscape at sunset – yet we are actually looking at only a few feet of mud and water. One of the goals of an expressive image is to stimulate the imagination of the viewer, and I believe that this kind of photograph can do that very well.
08-NOV-2007
Tracks, Canyon de Chelly National Park, Arizona, 2007
The key to this image is the abrupt incongruous disappearance of the tire tracks within the reflection. It is as if the towering red cliffs lining the sides of this great canyon have somehow swallowed the vehicle whole. I should have called this image “Journey’s End.”
04-SEP-2007
Moorish vision, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2007
We found this reflection in a puddle just outside the city’s old train station. In this case, I kept the surrounding dirt in the image as context. The station becomes a metaphor for a vanished era.
05-SEP-2007
Huangpo River, Shanghai, China, 2007
By photographing the lights of Shanghai as reflections in its river, I am able to symbolize the city, rather than describe it. An advertising sign on top of the buildings creates a set of bookends of blue to enclose the shimmering windows in between them.
06-SEP-2007
Fusion, Shanghai, China, 2007
A glass enclosed advertisement for Shanghai’s Van Gogh exhibition makes an ideal reflective surface for an abstracted image of a man coming down the steps of the underpass below the city’s famed Bund. I am able to merge the reflected steps and its railing, Van Gogh’s self portrait, and the Chinese text in the advertisement into the man’s figure, suggesting that art and commerce are fused.
09-SEP-2007
Wealth, Nanjing, China, 2007
Rather than describe the appearance of Nanjing’s central business district, I symbolize its energy and beauty by photographing the reflective surface of one of its buildings very late in the day. The enormous letters draw the eye and affect the emotions. To me, the golden letters suggest wealth. To those who read Chinese, they may well suggest something else. Surrounding structures swirl in the façade behind them, broken only by one window that is open and reflects the blue-sky overhead.
15-SEP-2007
Impressions, Pingyao, China, 2007
Just before leaving Pingyao, I walked outside of our hotel and noticed my friend and travel companion, pbase photographer Tim May, diligently editing his pictures on his laptop at a desk by the lobby window. I took a number of images of Tim at work, integrating him with the hotel background and the street reflections behind me. In this image, I was able to place the reflection of a cyclist carrying an adult and child between Tim and the left hand edge of the picture, just as they floated into the decorative swirls on the window. The rest of the street is empty, allowing Tim and his gear space to work. I even included my own hand holding a small camera at the right edge, adding another layer of reflected context. In the background, the hotel’s front desk and a crowd of people waiting to check out merge into the reflection of a store just across the street. It is a fantasy image about photographers and their dreamy impressions of China.
18-SEP-2007
Rain, Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China, 2007
A rainy day makes photography difficult at best, but it brings unique opportunity as well. Wet pavement can reflect and abstract surrounding subjects, as in this image of one of China’s most famous buildings, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests – the centerpiece of the Temple of Heaven complex. Earlier, I had been photographing reflections on smooth pavement, which reflected but did not abstract the subject. When I moved to older, rougher pavement, the reflected building lost its shape and form, but retained its color and energy. The golden panels on its maroon walls become ever more abstract as they flow from bottom to top, while tourists carrying pink umbrellas shimmer at upper right.
07-JUL-2007
Ghost school, Denver, Colorado, 2007
Built in 1904, this school has been shut down for the last thirty years. It is a ghost. Under private ownership, it awaits a new life in Denver’s booming Golden Triangle neighborhood. But when, and as what? As I passed by, I noticed the morning sun glinting off one of its third floor windows. Exposing with spot metering for the bright reflection, I deepened and enriched the colors – it was almost as if that reflection was pumping blood into those four massive columns, as well as symbolizing the better day that may yet eventually come.
06-JUL-2007
Street crowds, Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado, 2007
I isolate a street of frenetic activity within the glass windows of a spa by shooting this scene as a reflection. That reflection almost looks like an old roll of film splashed against the side of a white building. (And yes, the silhouette just to the right of center is the photographer.) By shooting at least forty people within a single reflection, I was able to incongruously contrast all of that activity to the absolutely empty sidewalk just alongside of the building.
12-JUN-2007
Guard, Alcatraz Prison, San Francisco, California, 2007
A lifelike figure of a prison guard stands in a glass case in the museum at the entrance to the former Cell House. A cellblock reflects on the glass at right, along with several visitors. I wanted to imply a sense of memory to this image – the guard seems haunted by the years he has spent on “The Rock.”
08-JUN-2007
Past meets present, San Francisco, California, 2007
Walking past an art gallery, I noticed a painting in the window depicting pioneer life in the American West. What happened to that America? I photograph the reflection of a busy city street that appears on the gallery window. The reflection is filled with traffic, garbage cans, and commercial buildings, which overwhelm the historical painting. A pioneer woman seems to look with dismay on what her sacrifices have produced.
08-JUN-2007
Going home, San Francisco, California, 2007
The figure that seems to be vanishing into a painting of an old building is actually a reflection on the window of an art gallery. I was able to get both the window reflection and the painting, which was on the rear wall of the gallery, into the same zone of focus. This man is going home by absorbing himself in the past.
12-JUN-2007
Pilings and reeds, Petaluma River, Petaluma, California, 2007
The Petaluma River flows through the heart of the city. It is actually a tidal estuary linking San Pablo Bay and San Francisco Bay. The reflected pilings link the actual pilings to the reflections of the buildings in the river. The abstracted array of reeds in the foreground offers a sharply focused focal point and a sense of depth perception.
07-MAY-2007
Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona, 2007
I saw this man studying his notes outside the entrance of the convention center. He does not notice the dramatically surreal play of reflection on the doors, but we do. It creates an incongruity. He is essentially inactive, a study in repose, while the tinted glass doors reflect a cubistic version of a theatre across the street. The theatre performs in the glass to an invisible audience.
07-MAY-2007
Flute, Herberger Theatre Center, Phoenix, Arizona, 2007
A bronze statue of a flute player, created by Arizona sculptor John Henry Waddell, plays its tune just outside the doors of this theatre. Although the statue stands in the deep shadows of trees directly overhead, the bright sunlight on the surrounding plaza is reflected back on to the bronze face, creating golden highlights that express both the beauty and value of music. I love to work with reflected light. It is usually softer and warmer than direct light, and it can produce images of great beauty, even at mid-day. The trees, meanwhile, are reflected in the doors of the theatre. This green reflection offers the statue a vivid background, and that color also symbolizes the vitality existing within the theatre. Ultimately, this image expresses meaning through two entirely different kinds of reflections: sunlight reflecting golden highlights on to the face of the statue, and the softly focused green trees reflected in the glass door of the theatre.
28-APR-2007
Corporate beehives, Phoenix, Arizona, 2007
While walking through the center of downtown Phoenix, I noticed reflections in downtown office buildings that transformed other buildings into symbolic beehives.
A beehive is, of course, a place of industry. It is where a product is created. I thought it made a perfect metaphor for a corporate structure. Not only is the beehive replicated on glass -- it is also reflected on the polished granite facing between the floors of glass windows. My camera position and the angle of the sun combine to create an image that is utterly surreal and ultimately appropriate.
26-SEP-2006
Resurrection, Issa Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006
This pair of fallen tree trunks creates a dynamic reflection that incongruously turns death into life. A pair of twin arrows sweeps across the image, helped by a floating log that echoes their path. I used my spot meter to brighten those arrows, making the rest of the lake much darker.
23-SEP-2006
Mirrored, Antelope Island, Utah, 2006
Antelope Island is reflected in a mirror-like channel of the Great Salt Lake, creating a huge finned rocket tinged in reddish gold. I made sure to anchor the image with the rock- strewn foreground. Without this foreground, the reflected image would lack context and become static.
24-SEP-2006
Bending the past, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2006
By reflecting the ornate Joseph Smith Office Building in the windows of a contemporary structure just across the street, the past seems to morph into both the present and future.
I tilted the camera to create the repeating diagonal lines of the window frames, adding considerable energy to this image.
26-SEP-2006
On Issa Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006
Ironically, the dead log in this image is far more vivid in coloration than the reflections of the dark trees in forest that surrounds this lake. I moved my vantage point so that the log floats between, instead of over, the reflected trees and I anchored the image with grass that provides a base for this photograph.
24-SEP-2006
Secular pressures, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2006
I was able to lift the top off of Salt Lake’s Mormon Temple by shooting its reflection in a nearby office building. The grid created by the office windows, reminiscent of a Mondrian painting, offers a metaphor for secular society, while the Temple represents religious faith. All religions continually face pressures and tensions created by the secular world in which they exist. This reflection graphically makes that point.
23-SEP-2006
Waders, Antelope Island State Park, Utah, 2006
Not only is the island itself reflected in this image, but each of the many wading birds that feed in its surrounding waters at sunset also cast their reflections, doubling the number of birds we see. I build this image around a series of horizontal shapes, beginning with the sandbar at bottom, followed by the band of birds, and then the reflected island, followed by the island itself. The golden color bonds all of these elements, adding a positive metaphor: these birds are safe here. No harm can come to them in this beautiful place.
21-OCT-2006
Reflecting the past, Bodie State Historic Park, California, 2006
The Wheaton and Hollis Hotel locked these doors forever more than sixty years ago when Bodie, a gold mining site in the Sierra Nevada mountains, faded into a ghost town. Today, the glass in these doors reflects the Boone General Store that stands just across Main Street. The slightest shift in vantage point changes the pattern of these surreal reflections, letting me paint virtually any kind of picture I want upon those wonderfully warped glass doors. The doors stand under a canopy that shields them from stray light, offering a consistently sharp and saturated series of reflections. (It only works in the morning, however, when the sun illuminates the store across the street.) I choose to bend the reflections into a series of geometric angles, and waited for a visitor to stop in front of the General Store across the street. I integrate her into the design itself. In doing so, I am immersing her into the past, which is exactly what a visit to the historic Bodie ghost town in supposed to do.
20-OCT-2006
Golden creek, near June Lake, California, 2006
It is light that makes reflections work. The light on the brilliantly yellow fall foliage on the opposite bank of this creek becomes diffused and softly blurred when reflected in the water. I chose not to photograph the reflection by itself. Rather, I used the shadowed stump of a long departed tree as a focal point to draw the eye and anchor the composition, surrounding it with rippling golden water. It becomes an impressionistic image, very much in the style of an impressionist painting.
20-OCT-2006
Tufa at dawn, Mono Lake, California, 2006
Jagged towers of limestone, known as tufa, which are formed over the centuries by combining salty lake water and freshwater springs, give Mono Lake its distinctive character. Instead of photographing the tufa tower itself, I chose to shoot this golden reflection of a tufa tower at dawn, juxtaposing it against the tip of another tufa tower protruding from the lake bed. It is the contrast between solid and reflective tufa that makes this image convey the nature of Mono Lake.
08-AUG-2006
Metlife Tower, Madison Square Park, New York City, 2006
The 700 foot high Metlife tower was the tallest building in the world when it was built in 1909. Modeled on the campanile on St. Mark’s Square in Venice, the tower would hold that title for only four years, yet it still remains a landmark alongside of New York’s Madison Square Park. I catch its crumpling, twisted reflection in the rippling waters of the square’s fountain, creating a surreal vision of a historic building. It seems to be shrinking before our eyes –an apt metaphor for a building that once was the tallest of them all but currently ranks as the 15th highest building in New York City.
07-AUG-2006
Rush hour oasis, 23rd Street, New York City, 2006
A reflection helps me create this layered image of a woman having a cup of coffee and reading a document while ignoring the chaos of rush hour swirling around her. A large window reflects a subway entrance, with bikes locked to its cage-like bars. The reflected bars metaphorically lock the woman into a routine she repeats five days a week. The window also reflects a blurred taxi and scurrying pedestrians, merging them into the woman, who never looks up from her reading. She lives in a maelstrom and somehow accepts it as normalcy.
10-JUN-2006
Tide pool, Otter Crest Beach, DePoe Bay, Oregon, 2006
I caught this photographer’s reflection in a tide pool. In such a place as this, potential photographs are literally underfoot at all times. The backlighted subject becomes an abstract symbol of the quest for images. The v-shape of the folded tripod and arm echoes the v-shape of the tide pool itself. Glowing sea creatures merge into the silhouette of the photographer, adding a surreal tone to the character of the picture.
12-JUN-2006
Winecasks, Girardet Winery, Roseburg, Oregon, 2006
I made this image of the Girardet wine casks with the help of a reflection on shiny aluminum winemaking machinery. (I can barely make out the very slim photographer just to the left of center.) The gold color adds warmth, while the reflection squeezes multiple casks into a single image. The round door on the aluminum machinery echoes the round casks and links the dual subjects within a single plane.
15-MAR-2006
Bank, Beijing, China, 2006
The glass facade of a Beijing bank reflects the energy of the busy Wangfujing shopping area. When shooting reflections, it is important to keep in mind the purpose of the picture, rather than just shoot incongruous forms for the sake of form itself. This image expresses the duality of Beijing itself. It is a dynamic metropolis, bursting at the seams with energy. Yet it is also chaotic. This reflection caught elements of both. Banks such as this one provide resources to fuel Beijing’s boom, providing context for the image.
31-MAR-2006
Pond, Shuhe, China, 2006
There is a sense of tranquility and mystery in this reflected image. The graceful old home provides Chinese identity, while the rich colors of reflected trees and flowers tell us that spring has come to Yunnan Province. A rippled circle at the bottom of the image adds context.
31-MAR-2006
Serenity, Lijiang, China, 2006
The elegantly landscape garden surrounding our hotel provides subject matter, but it’s the early morning light that gives the image its serene beauty. I chose to meld reality to reflection here, matching the repeating diagonals of the rocky shore of this pond to the diagonal in the reflected hotel building. Reality and reflection overlap, making the building seem to be almost transparent.
10-FEB-2006
The Old Blue Truck, Barstow, California, 2006
With rust covering much of its blue finish, this truck has made its last delivery. It now is one of a number of historic vehicles in the collection at Tom's Welding and Machine Shop in Barstow, California. Its window reflects just a few of the collection's other items, including an old farm wagon, ladders, and gasoline signage. The reflection is the focal point of picture. It is lighter, and more detailed, and provides a context for what is probably this truck’s last stop.
30-OCT-2005
Primary Colors, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 2005
A small fountain in the courtyard of a San Miguel inn plays back the colors of late afternoon in Central Mexico. I draw heavily on texture created by the ripples to give the
liquid a tactile quality. We can see these ripples in both the fountain’s bowl and in the pool that surrounds it. I’ve used a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second to extend the droplets of water flowing from the bowl. But the key to the success of this reflection is the rich, deep quality of the color. The air of San Miguel is clear, the altitude is high, and the color of the sky is a deep and pure blue late in the afternoon. The basin of the fountain is blue as well. The yellow comes from the newly painted walls of one of the inn’s casitas. The shape of the casita itself is strongly abstracted by the rippling waters that reflect it back to us. Both yellow and blue are primary colors to begin with, and when they are shot in warm late afternoon light at 6,000 feet to appear as textured reflections, their effect can be powerful.
15-JUL-2005
Striving, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
One of the more fascinating art galleries we visited in Santa Fe was one featuring the work of South African artists. As photographer, my challenge was to honor the artists’ own vision, yet also express my own feelings about it. I was drawn to these silver figures climbing colored cubes, topped with silver vases. To me they symbolize the act of striving – making great efforts to achieve something seemingly beyond their reach, yet still perhaps possible. The glittering reflections spilling from the arms of the figures make them metaphors for energy and strength. Light also reflects off a vase on top of the yellow cube, drawing the eye down to the shadows that suggest stylized sun rays. Without reflections, this image would not speak to us. With them, it becomes a dual expression of both the artists vision as well as my own.
19-JUN-2005
Path of light, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2005
This image is essentially a photograph of reflected light. The three people in the boat provide the context, rather than the subject. I built this image around the way the evening sky and the setting sun were reflecting off the water, carving a gradual path of color through the shadows that seems to begin with pale blue and end in a rosy glow. That path expresses the idea here – it represents a progression from one state to another. These abstracted people drifting along an Amsterdam canal seem to be symbolically moving towards us in a reverse direction. How we read meaning into the different shadings of color will determine what this image might say to us.
09-JUN-2005
Imperial Spirit, Waterloo Battlefield, Belgium, 2005
In June 1815, England and Prussia routed the Grand Army of the French emperor Napoleon in battle near the village of Waterloo, forcing him into abdication and exile. One hundred and ninety years later, Napoleon still haunts the battlefield. I found him in the window of a souvenir shop, surrounded by racks of post cards. By bringing my wideangle lens down to waist level and then shooting up at the glass, I was able to avoid picturing my own reflection and also summon the Imperial Spirit by enveloping the ghostly figure in reflected clouds. I originally posted this image in color. I converted it to black and white after viewer David Clunas asked me why I did not have any black and white reflections in this gallery. Now I do. This image was an excellent candidate for conversion, because of its surreal expressive qualities.
11-JUN-2005
Where Time Stands Still, Bruges, Belgium, 2005
Bruges, an hour commute from Brussels, still retains its medieval appearance. It was never bombed, and bans billboards and high rises. This early morning view from a bridge overlooking a glassy canal with its picturesque pair of swans is as close as we can get to time travel. Little seems to have changed in this scene since the middle ages, at least on the outside. The surface of the water itself is the key to this image. There was no wind, and the dimensions of this canal were relatively modest, making the water as smooth as glass. The only texture in the water comes from the concentric ripples encircling one of the swans. The rest of the water reflects the houses, trees and clouds and one of the swans perfectly. The light also plays a role in the calming effect of this reflection – the low angle of the sun bathes the buildings in color, while the reflections of the gray clouds darkens the water, heightening the sense of calm and creating an idyllic mood.
17-JUN-2005
Plank, Willemstad, The Netherlands, 2005
The canal surrounding the ancient Dutch town of Willemstad lies within deep banks. I am not sure about the intended function of this plank, which I found standing in stagnant water and leaning against the high wooden side of the canal. Is it a gangplank used for boats? Or is it a duck plank, allowing the canal’s resident ducks to have easy access to land? In any event, it was the reflection that inspired this image. As the plank enters the water, it shimmers off into two directions. The underwater portion of the plank leads left, the reflection leads right. Both are mysteriously suspended in darkness. Reversing directions, we see them as alternative paths of ascent, merging above the waterline into a final climb carrying us up beyond the limits of the frame. Going up or going down, the plank tells its story according to how we choose to interpret it.
10-JUN-2005
Silver sculpture, Place du Grand Sablon Antiques Market, Brussels, Belgium, 2005
Each weekend a large antiques market is held in Brussels' Place du Grand Sablon, a square on the side of the hill between the upper and lower halves of the city. Among the antiques on display was this sculptured silver head, which, along with the urn behind it, caught my eye because of how the light is reflecting off of it. I created this image to demonstrate how reflected light alters the subject and makes it incongruous. The head appears to us almost in liquid form – giving the illusion of transparency. I want my viewers to see more than a silver object. I want the image to go beyond description, and activate the imaginations of those may see it.
08-JUN-2005
Golden window, The Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium, 2005
One of the greatest concentrations of Flemish Renaissance buildings in the world line the four sides of Brussels’ Town Square. Originally built around 600 years ago, these buildings once functioned as royal administration buildings, as well as home to the city’s many trade guilds. French canon blew them apart 300 years ago but they were rebuilt in the style of the time. They represent the golden age of art, architecture, and commerce in Belgium, and today are collectively known as The Grand Place, the geographical, historical and commercial heart of the city. To express that golden age, I did not choose to describe an entire structure. Rather, I found a group of windows reflecting a sun-splashed building just across the way. The wavy 300-year-old glass abstracts the reflection, and we see a wash of gold on them that conveys a sense of wealth and power. The red flowers and the sculpted frieze below them add context and contrast.
12-JUN-2005
Memling’s Eyes, Bruges, Belgium, 2005
Past and present come together as Bruges' opera house is reflected on a glass-covered poster featuring the gaze of Flemish artist Hans Memling. The poster features a reproduction of Memling’s self-portrait, painted in the 1400s. The cracking paint of the portrait brings an aged texture to the image and the huge eyes float within the softly reflected building. The cracked paint and the soft reflection unify and symbolize –- it looks like a composite montage made with Photoshop. But this is image is not an electronic blend or a double exposure. It’s an abstract, surreal reflection with multiple interpretations.
13-JUN-2005
Reflection in water (1): Surreall Windmill, Bruges, Belgium, 2005
Over the course of a weeklong canal barge trip through Belgium and The Netherlands, I had many opportunities to photograph reflections in water. In this, the first in a series of five reflected images, I offer a new look at an old windmill. The reflected waters of a clear blue morning sky provide the backdrop, while the motion in the water, created by our moving barge, stretches and bends the windmill until it becomes whimsically surreal. It stimulates the imagination, and calls out for attention.
14-JUN-2005
Reflection in water (2): Time Warp, Ghent, Belgium, 2005
I use reflections to abstract this canal side building, altering its structure until it implies a time warp. I used the reflected underside of a canal bridge to envelope the entire left side in darkness, giving the building a foreboding context. The image becomes dream like, and prods the imagination to take it further.
14-JUN-2005
Reflection in water (3): Transformation, Ghent, Belgium, 2005
Shooting from Ghent’s Graslei promenade at dusk, I merged an explosion of golden ripples into a shimmering reflection of one of Ghent’s historic buildings. The energetic effect seems to transform present into past and past into present. The picture is based on a combination of the golden light of the setting sun on the building, sudden movement in the water of the River Leie, and a deep blue dusky sky.
14-JUN-2005
Reflection in water (4): Inversion, Ghent, Belgium, 2005
Because reflections are a form of abstraction, we are free are to orient our images in any way we wish. In this case, I turned the reflected image upside down, implying that the dark pattern flowing from a corner is smoke from a chimney, which morphs the scene into an inverted medieval cityscape.
13-JUN-2005
Reflection in water (5): Vanishing Point, Bruges, Belgium, 2005
This image challenges the viewer’s imagination to wonder where reality ends and reflection begins? I used spot metering to expose this image for the sun-splashed hull, allowing the heavily shadowed prow area at right to go dark. It’s that area where the vanishing point effect takes over. The actual edge of the prow becomes increasingly faint as it drops towards the water. It then vanishes altogether, only to re-emerge as faint reflection. Meanwhile, the sun-struck portion of the hull becomes a golden pool of swirling reflectivity, a perfect counterpoint to the vanishing prow. (This image was inspired by one of my favorite photo's on pbase, Zandra Titso's "Calm." (
http://www.pbase.com/miinerva/image/40378609 ) Zandra does in black and white what I am have tried to do here in color.)