Certified Realities
Challenging Our Visual Perceptions
Photographers (myself included) can sometime believe we’ve discovered that new creative vision. That was the case as I began visualizing other realities via their reflections off of window panes. Unbeknownst to me, it had all been done before. By more people than I ever thought. Example: Saul Leiter and William Klein.
Below are some of the certified realities photographed during that split-second they’re available to be discovered and examined in detail. It’s beneficial that they’re coincidentally parallel to our own realities.
Here, the first attempt to assess a certified reality. It was a quick glimpse, and sparked further explorations. At first, I thought I was pre-visualizing an ordinary scene. As I got to within 20 yards/18m, the different facets of each reality was clearly apparent.
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Eight months later, more opportunities emerged. There was no doubt that these realities were not just indistinct flashes in my head, but true physical creations.
Typical Reflection:
Oftentimes, there’s anxiety in figuring out the visual play of our world, and the inherent confusion within. Searching to ascertain what is where, and how reflected objects relate to where they actually exist for us? Those multiple layers of all that’s reflected, formed from perpendicular window panes. Mind-altering and perplexing.
Certified Realities don’t offer up, or seek to explain the confusion of everyday life. In its simplest illustration, it offers a proposition of a doppelgänger world that’s as real as ours.
Our ability to ascertain certified realities wouldn’t work as well without the steel and glass of the cities as they balance the alternating photons that provide the means for them to be seen. Analysis of the “visual trickery” involved is exhaustive, fascinating—but creatively accessible.
The pandemic birthed many budding photographers. Most are discussing their introduction to photography in social media forums. The massive amounts of free time for self-reflection (pun) combined with sustained malaise from those years, nurtured pent-up desires. With continued study, maybe one day they’ll be able to gain advanced insights—even possible integration with the other side.
It took but a few seconds to begin exploring certified realities. Creative impulses can come from the smallest of ideas in the bleakest corners of inspiration. A split-second of thought can create an immense amount of artistic results. The notion of someone else creating an almost identical visual language, doesn’t absolve you in demonstrating your own. There can be many dialects in human conversation.
If this article is enjoyable to you, maybe even inspiring, please hit the like button to acknowledge its impact. Also, share with someone you know who could also find inspiration from it.
I appreciate that you took time from your day to read it through.
Til next time…
Kenneth
I'm glad you brought this practice up. I often use reflections as a 'warm up' practice when I start out on a street shoot. It's a way to get a feel for the conditions, the camera, etc, and a way to capture people without directly addressing them. A bit of cheating, I suppose. But also, like double exposures, there is a craft and art you can bring to the practice.
These are interesting images. I've though about reflections but never to this extent. It is something I am looking forward to try out in my own photography.