Reflections on Reflections

David Marshak, our judge for the Reflections / Open competition on March 9th, has provided us with this thoughts about reflection photography.

By David Marshak

“I love reflections because they ask you to see the world twice—once as fact, once as mystery.”

— Minor White 

Using reflections in photography is both easy and challenging. It’s easy because almost every scene looks good with a reflection. Nature, architecture, and travel photos particularly lend themselves to beautiful images when reflections are introduced.

It’s a challenge, since reflection images are so abundant that it can be difficult for the maker to differentiate their approach. In fact, it is a common photography aphorism that shooting reflections is a mark of a lazy photographer, since anyone can make good looking images just by including a reflection.

Therefore, it is important to be intentional with reflections. For example, your intention may be to evoke a specific emotion -- such as calmness -- using symmetry of a fall New England scene.

Or you may want to present the magical feeling that you experienced in a classic location.

Reflections can (and should) be used to create an otherworldliness by using them in more abstract photos such as:

And

Personally, I like to use reflections to enhance the stories in my people photography, such as showing the frenetic environment of Mike’s Pastry:

or the relationship between Elton John and his piano by focusing on the reflection in his glasses:

Or even as a street portrait and self-portrait:

Hopefully your images will reflect your intentions.

All photos by David Marshak.