Initial Thoughts
In this unit, I want to explore reflections in windows that make things from both sides of the window overlap in one image. How different views combine in one photo through reflections in windows inspires me to explore reflections in windows. Another concept that I may want to explore is the reflections in mirrors and using Photoshop to create interesting effects in my photos. I will achieve this in the studio and work with different lighting.
Researching the starting point
Naoya Haakeyama, Lee Friedlander, Lisette Model, and Robert Holden had worked with reflection before, but the ways they chose to explore the idea of reflection differed. They captured reflection through water, mirrors, windows, and items. There are many ways to demonstrate reflection, and each way brings a different emotion and vision to the audience. Here are four examples from the four artists:
Naoya Hatakeyama is a Japanese photographer. In this image, he captured the reflection of the night view of Tokyo through water. Hatakeyama’s works often explore the meaning of landscape and the life of cities. After finishing college, Hatakeyama moved to Tokyo and based his life there. In this photograph, Hatakeyama shows the relationship between the city and nature using the technique of reflection.
In this photo, Lee Friedlander, an American photographer, works with reflection through wing mirrors. The reflection in the mirror is combined with the background of the road. Lee Friedlander shows the view of America through reflection and creates an interesting frame in his image. This unexpected overlap of contents in the urban landscape is the most crucial feature of this photograph.
Lisette Model, a street photographer, used the window reflection to take her self-portrait in this series. By capturing her reflection in the store’s window, Lisette Model shows her relationship with the view of the city surrounding her. The reflection in the store window reflects the city’s unique features, such as the crowded street or a little-known corner in the street.
In Robert Holden’s The Burning House project, he took pictures of items that people would take with them if their houses were on fire. The interesting point of this project, related to reflection, is that Robert Holden chose an indirect way to reflect a person’s inner self. In this project, he worked with self-reflection; the items people would take with them can reflect what is most important to them. This special and unusual perspective of the topic “reflection” is demonstrated in his The Burning House project.
Mind Map
Vision and Statement of Intent
In this project, the message I want to convey through my photos is the world’s novelty. In my photos, I will explore the world from another perspective. When we get bored with things around us, looking at them from another perspective will bring us unexpected results. Reflection allows us to watch an object from another point of view, and I want to capture the “other side” of things we see every day, exploring the relationship between nature and different objects. Additionally, I want to convey a feeling of calmness and enigma to my audience through my work. To achieve my vision, I plan to focus on capturing reflections through ice or water. The world will be flipped upside down in my photos. A new world will be present in my photographs, a world different from what we see each day. I will apply this in Saul Leiter’s and Marius Puluikis’ style.
The working title of my project is The Other Side. I want my audience to feel a sense of disorder and unexpected. I will get inspiration and develop my ideas by looking for photographs by Marius Puluikis and Saul Leiter that used the techniques of reflection through ice, water, and windows.
Mood Board
Reflection
From this research, I learned about different ways to explore the topic of “reflection.” During my research, I saw other photographers using reflection to explore different themes through their photos. The messages photographers want to convey in these images are often related to relationships, such as the relationship between the city and nature, people and the city, etc. Reflection combines two different scenes together in one picture, and thus, overlaps of different objects often appear. This special composition created by reflection creates two layers in photos, usually building a sense of mystery, novelty, and calmness. During the research process, Saul Leiter’s work truly inspired me and helped me develop my understanding of the starting point. The interesting composition in his works grabbed my attention, which made me understand the many possibilities of reflection.