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.
Reflections are ubiquitous. They can appear as images seen in mirrors, on glass, water, or any shiny, reflective surface. Reflections often alter reality, transforming it into the stuff of fantasy. Another form of reflection is when light is thrown back or bounced off its source to illuminate something else in an indirect, subtle way. We can use both forms of reflection to express ideas, and even transform reality into entirely new forms of expression. Reflected light and images often go unseen, taken for granted. We must train our eyes to notice them, recognizing their potential meaning, and then use them as another way of seeing.
See an array of photographs based on reflected images and light in this gallery.
