Photo Commentary #23: Manipulating the Environment to Your Favor

In an earlier post, I had briefly touched on the significance of waterscapes and their ability to add contrast, color, and essentially, almost double of whatever they may be reflecting in the photo – if there is one photo that best exemplifies this fact, I would say this shot by Martin Damboldt is definitely in the running.  

In most instances, the reflective qualities of surfaces, whether it is water, metal, or something else, are used to accentuate, compliment, or build on the subject of the image. However, there are a few photos where the reflection is not just a mere accessory to the subject, but it is the subject itself (or at least part of it).  

In this visual, the reflection is quite literally half the subject, and without it, the image would definitely be incomplete. The calm water provides an excellent surface to reflect the other “half” of the bridge, thus presenting this mesmerizing illusion.   In the grander scheme of things, this image not only speaks to the significance of reflections, but the artistic ability to manipulate the surroundings in which the artist may find him or herself. In other words, to not only see what IS there, but also what ISN’T. Identifying the delineation between what is and what isn’t allows the photographer to exploit each category to his or her benefit. If you know what is there, you can make it go away, and if you know what isn’t, you can make it appear. In this case, Martin saw the half of the bridge that wasn’t there, and used his surroundings to negate the fact via the utilization of reflections.  

Photographer: Martin Damboldt
https://www.instagram.com/mdamboldt/
https://damboldt-photographie.com/
https://500px.com/mdx014