Mirror mirror on the wall
One of my favorite things to look for on the street is reflection. Reflections can be found anywhere. You can see them on a puddle of rain on the ground, a glass window of a coffee shop or some random store’s ads board. They are literally everywhere in the city but often ignored by many street photographers. The masters before us made great use of reflections, one can easily see them in the works of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Trent Parke, Ernst Haas…
By Henri Cartier-Bresson. Source: Magnum Photos
By Trent Parke. Source: Magnum Photos
By Ernst Haas. Source: ernst-haas.com
Every reflective surface is different. Looking for reflections on different materials can deliver surprising results.
This is the reflection of a fishing boat on the sea water in Cua Dai, Hoi An, Vietnam. The distortion created by the waves worked perfectly with the details and colors of the boat, result in a painting like abstract image. This is one of my proudest works to date.
I shot this on a plastic decoration gate of a karaoke. The surprising anamorphic look alike flares were what caught my eyes. It gave the scene a somewhat cinematic look. Speaking of which, I should’ve shot this in landscape, or even 16:9. I should pay this karaoke another visit soon.
In this example, the waves of the water distorted the image, alongside with the sunlight and shadow casted on the surface gave the scene an interesting, painting like look.
This image was taken on the window of Trang Tien Plaza in Hanoi. Looks like a painting, doesn’t it? The brush stroke across the frame also added to this feeling.
With the help of reflections, we can stack layers of subjects which would otherwise be too far away from each other or be on different sides of the camera.
The mannequin was inside the store, and the car was obviously on the road. The reflection helped me flattening the space, creating another story of this figure trying to stop a car. Pretty funny.
The girl appeared several times in one picture. I managed to fill the frame, since both car windows had a human figure in them. Captain America approved!
Reflections can, of course, create symmetry in the frame. I don’t normally shoot symmetry, but you know the drill.
The random dirt spot on the puddle overlapping the biker’s reflection gave me a sense of movement. You know, like the Flash CGI. The reflection is more interesting than the scene itself, so I flipped the image upside down.
Depending on the material, shape and size of the reflective surface, the reflection should be a distorted image of reality. This distortion could result in abstraction or surreal look added to the picture.
The guy resembled the graffiti on the right. Him being a shadow walking out of the light gave me some dreamy/nightmare feeling.
I shot this at Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi. So now we can see through the canvas roof or what? The roof or the bikes under, which were being reflected? To be honest until this day I can’t tell where the reflections came from. Surreal, isn’t it?
The man lying on the bike was reflected in multiple panels with different materials and color. If only there had been a third panel, the picture would have been perfect. But that’s life, right?
By using reflections, you can add some color cast on the otherwise boring scene.
If I had turned around for the shot, the end result would be disappointing for sure. The colors and shapes of the decorations behind the glass worked with the reflection to create something that looks like a scene from the Doctor Strange movies.
