Reflections - with Sebastian Magnani
Born 1985 in a small village in Canton Valais, Switzerland, surrounded by mountains, Sebastian Magnani discovered photography whilst training as a media designer. After being a creative in an advertising agency, he decided to turn his passion into a profession. Since then he has been making a living as a photographer, based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Sebastian Magnani uses a round mirror in these shots to create the effect of a portal. The border of the mirror is minimal making the photograph seem seamless, and contrasting two different environments in the same season makes a powerful image. What strengthens this further is the use of light in the reflection, like looking into a new world. I like these pictures because they have two different subjects and both the background and foreground are vibrant and colourful.
Sebastian Magnani uses a round mirror in these shots to create the effect of a portal. The border of the mirror is minimal making the photograph seem seamless, and contrasting two different environments in the same season makes a powerful image. What strengthens this further is the use of light in the reflection, like looking into a new world. I like these pictures because they have two different subjects and both the background and foreground are vibrant and colourful.
Mirror Reflections
By taking inspiration from Magnani's work, we compiled a set of images set in our own environment. To create the effect of the mirror in the floor looking like a portal we had to ensure that the ground and the mirror subject was in focus, this was F5.6 but proved difficult. I tried to make the mirror subject and background contrast.
Artist and Me
Here I'm comparing my work with Sebastian Magnani's reflection. The inspiration is visible but he makes sure the use all natural environments, whereas my reflection is based in school, a man made structure. His background is similar to mine in texture but in the images, his is in focus and it consists of shattered slate and gravel when my background is poured concrete. Another difference is the border of the mirrors, his is slim and mine is bold and black creating a clear difference in environment.
Distorted Reflections
Antonio Gutierrez took photos where the image would be partially distorted by water. This effect was reached by using a container of water and having the subject behind the water. When the container's edges are seamless with the body of water then the picture looks quite brilliant. I especially like the image on the left, as it has some symmetry and I like the one in the middle as it is almost sharp.
Distorted Reflections - 1st Response
Inspired by Antonio Gutierrez, I've compiled an array of photographs using a cup of water to distort the subject of the image, which in turn distorts the entire image. With a solid background the subjects come forward and become all you can focus on.
Reflection - Homework
This is the second response taking inspiration from the artist Antonio Gutierrez's work. This time utilising the effect of a broken mirror and artificial light. The spherical fish bowl distorts the light and subjects in a unique way. To properly take inspiration from his work, I used his ideas and added the mirror and with the body of water, I added yellow ink.
The image above is my favourite as it is truly distorted and the spherical body of water bends the photo subject.
Reflections on Water
Slava Semeniuta used lights to form reflections on bodies of water, often puddles in tarmac and roads. The lights were bright and the ground is in focus so when the light is reflected in the water, then the ground creates a border. This is a contrast and makes the water and the reflection bold. The colors in these pictures are very important as they give character to the shot and create the mood.
1st Response
First Strand - Water Surface Reflections
These are two of my favourite pictures that I took. The image on the left is when the ink was first poured into the glass of water; it has an opaque cloud of a brownish black from being diluted. The image of the right is after about thirty seconds of the ink being in water, the colour is still opaque with a heaviness to it but it has become much more brown, the edges slowly becoming more translucent.
In both images the colours were edited to have more character and deepened.
In both images the colours were edited to have more character and deepened.
Artist - Koo Bohnchang and Hiroshi Sugimoto
Hiroshi Sugimoto has spoken of his work as an expression of ‘time exposed’, or photographs serving as a time capsule for a series of events in time. His work also focuses on transience of life, and the conflict between life and death. Sugimoto is also deeply influenced by the writings and works of Marcel Duchamp, as well as the Dadaist and Surrealist movements as a whole. He has also expressed a great deal of interest in late 20th century modern architecture. His use of an 8×10 large-format camera and extremely long exposures has garnered Sugimoto a reputation as a photographer of the highest technical ability. He is equally acclaimed for the conceptual and philosophical aspects of his work.
Specifically with this work, he clearly focuses of his interests between life and death. The clear contrast between the sea and the sky, both are environments that seem equally like oblivion. The sea a dark and opaque surface and the sky a complete and solid color, telling you nothing.
Specifically with this work, he clearly focuses of his interests between life and death. The clear contrast between the sea and the sky, both are environments that seem equally like oblivion. The sea a dark and opaque surface and the sky a complete and solid color, telling you nothing.
1st Development
Taking inspiration from the artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, I've taken a set of pictures with the similar focus of the ripples and reflections of water itself. The ripples behave in a pattern but are set off randomly creating elegant and complex movement. I like the format of the images, the wide and slim form factor of the image really creates this elegant feel, reinforcing the movement.
I've photographed ripples effectively but to improve on this shoot I should find a larger body of water. To mirror Sugimoto's work, the picture needs to represent the feeling that water and sky give you with no external effects.
Here I have the raw images in a contact sheet.
These are the final images after editing, with a black and white filter so the focus is on the ripples. I edited them so the light reflected on the ripples stands out on the surface. This is more like Sugimoto's work, except the container of water blends with the surface texture, creating the effect of a body of water instead of a simple tray of water.
Surface Reflections of Water - Development
Here, leading from the images above, I've taken these ideas further and shot more photos using the effect. There are different colours and mediums used as background to the water to create different effects.
These are a slightly different style, I started taking these pictures on a tangent after seeing the drops in the photo on the left.
These set of images are my favourite as part of this development, especially with over editing them. It creates this old and deteriorating effect which I like a lot. I did this by increasing the brightness as needed then increasing the saturation to a high level and correcting any light with contrast. This brings out the red, green and blue specifically in the images. These may also appear as leaves.
I love these ripples but my favourites are the ones where you can see the droplets coming up faster and as part of the ripple. If I could do this again, I would make sure the pictures are slightly more sharp.
Water - Plants
Here, I've pulled inspiration from a few set tasks throughout the Reflection topic, and from the artists such as Hiroshi Sugimoto, to make a unique set of pictures that contrast and the colours pop. The green of vibrant plants and the artificial red plastic tray divided by a clear plate of perspex, all together, make the pictures below and create a complex palette of colours.
The black and white effect makes you focus on the textures and ripples of the picture. With the imperfections of the leaves and the red dye contrasting the fresh green; it makes the images stand out.
The black and white effect makes you focus on the textures and ripples of the picture. With the imperfections of the leaves and the red dye contrasting the fresh green; it makes the images stand out.