On Reflection

There are only so many ways to photograph a room, but when viewed through a mirror, spaces can take on different or unexpected characters. Designers employ them to add light or dimension, and as a photographer I use them to frame, as above or to highlight, or even to confuse the viewer. Plain mirrors can create an effect, but distorting mirrors or those with an unusual, fractured or "distressed" finish can be even more beguiling.

And then, trickier to shoot, but fun all the same, are the infinite reflections created by positioning mirrors opposite each other. Like trompe l'oeils, they really do appear to add another dimension to a space.

My most recent shoot, was an essay in reflection, although there were no mirrors at all. Eduardo Cardenes, a young Spanish Designer, has  an impressive office in Chelsea Harbour, decked out in ultra glossy black joinery and an extraordinary reflective black ceiling. Made by a company called Barrisol, this material is a polymer that can be stretched between fixed points to create ceilings or partitions. The result is extremely slick, and at first confusing. On entering , the brain is somewhat dazzled by all the reflections, and you are not sure where walls end and ceiling begins; an effect heightened by the two dramatic contemporary chandeliers that hang, one either side of the central glass partition.

Naturally as a Photographer, there was lots of fun to be had!