I just got back from a weeklong photographic workshop with Connie Imboden up a the Maine Media Workshops.  It was an amazing experience and I’ll write more about it later, but one thing in particular stuck with me.  Connie repeatedly emphasized paying attention to the edges of the frame.  The constrictions of the photographic form force us into a defined compositional shape, but the form can be a source of creative seeing as well.

With my metal sheets, I realized that I have multiple edges to play with in addition to the camera frame.  There are of course the physical edges of the mirror, but each sheet also has zones where the polish transitions from rough to smoothly reflective.  Reflections in these zones change and warp, depending on my position.  But there is also the metal surface itself that can become an edge.  Divots, scratches and marks define a surface of interaction that changes the reflection and thus the image in the final photograph.

So it was with those thoughts in mind that I headed into the studio the past weekend.  Chloe and I focused on the interaction of her poses and the various border elements of the metal.  I’m pretty happy with the results, but I’m seeing ways to open up the composition within the reflection.  Stay tuned!

Lucas James is a fine art photographer based in Manchester, NH.  Anisotropic Images Photography.