[Art + Photography] Through the looking glass
Varied incarnations of through the looking glass worlds come alive stemming from a simple photograph of a beautiful white and purple African Violet flower in a small glass bowl that can be seen in the second picture below.
This first world we fall into after penetrating the looking glass springs in many colored whirls, a real paper quilling world.
A world of colorful whirls
That picture seems to be a small window into a world of whirling pastel colors which is curiously very visually appealing.
The origin of this series of dimensional portals comes from this simple photograph below of a white with purple bordered African Violet flower placed in small glass bowl with water.
The original African Violet in a Bowl, a portal for our looking glass worlds
That photograph was taken with an Olympus SH-25MR camera, and shot at f/4 and 1/80th sec. ISO 100 setting.
In our next crossing into the looking glass we travel into a smooth surfaced world with a color palette of mostly greenish and brownish tonalities, and yet still beautifully attractive.
A world of smooth plastic textures
Another plunge into the looking glass abyss brings us into an oil painting dimension where a classic oil paintbrush master was given godlike powers to interpret everything to his whim and liking.
An oil painting dimension
Next in our series is an evolution into a looking glass corner of the universe where all things are eternally encapsulated in glass, beautifully preserved for all eternity in flowing immutable crystal.
A glass crystal enveloped corner of the universe
Now we jump into a never boring dimension of splotchy brightly neon colored artifacts, you start wondering if someone actually slipped some acid into your last drink. Yet somehow this trippy colored world has a wonderful aesthetic pull to it that amazes you.
A jump into the neon dimension
To calm us down from our last drive into acid lane we seek to soothe our senses somewhat by flowing into this minimalist interpretation of a realm where there are few quantumized tonalities, a flaky nonplace where each fleck carries a single hue while all things seem to be flaking away into thin air.
A Minimalist Flaky Realm
Our final trip across the looking glass lands us in Metalia, a land of all metallic inception, all surfaces gleam with a highly polished metallic shine, as if they were created by an army of metal depositing nano bots.
A fleeting gaze into Metalia
Fancy a tourist trip even for a day into any of these particular ambiances?
Extreme Under Water Photography
Some photographers go to an incredible amount of extremes in order to accomplish some astounding work, that although still within the scope of photography manages to evoke the sense of being in a different world or on some supernatural dimension.
This is the case of Benjamin Von Wong, an extreme photographer that likes to push the boundaries of photographic art. For an example of what I am talking about, check the picture below.
An Under Water Reign where beautiful beings roam
Image source
That is just one example of a photoshoot that happened at a sunken shipwreck location in Bali, and using professional free divers as models together with a helping crew of licensed scuba divers. For lighting he uses the natural hazy sunlight filtering through the almost crystalline waters of Bali, as well as some fancy strobe flashes.
The results are breathtaking and almost faked at first sight, but the pictures are legit, and there is a whole fascinating story behind them. Below you can see an actual photograph of the whole under water setup during the photoshoot.
Under Water Bali Photoshoot setup
Image source
The results are extraordinary, but he of course had to overcome some incredible obstacles.
"
Challenges
Everything is more complicated underwater. To name a few:
-Normal models wouldn’t work unless they had extensive dive training and even then, they wouldn’t have the ability to hold their breaths for very long, especially at depth so Free Divers were going to be required.
-Normal clothes couldn’t be rented since the sea water would wreck them, so we had to find a designer willing to part with the clothing they’d lend us.
-Normal assistants wouldn’t work, specially trained safety divers were going to be necessary to ensure a smooth photoshoot.
-Scouting would be complicated – local divers would be necessary for us to navigate around the wreck and deal with unpredictable changes in the weather and tide.
-Lighting and gear would be limited – shooting underwater meant that we had to work with what we had available: on camera strobes or natural light."
Amazing stuff, but a real testament to what an accomplished and passionate artist can achieve when he sets his heart and mind to it. A full account of this photoshoot can be found here: 2 Models, 7 Divers In An Underwater Shipwreck. Check it out, it's really inspiring and informative.
To wrap it up I'll leave this youtube video of him explaining some of the things he went through and his version of what it takes to succeed.
Both art and photography can take you to new dimensions and seemingly fantastical realms, it is all up to your imagination.
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