254/365 I Lived in Mirrors That Summer
254/365
She considers his words then adds her own. She looks down, then up, a bit perturbed that he doesn’t listen. Or maybe he does, but doesn’t respond. He lifts his locally brewed Osiris Pale Ale and drinks, half turning from her. A sign he won’t respond.
I sit with my back to them and watch the drama through the glass window, their ghostly appearance a testament to their relationship.
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That summer I spent many late afternoons and early evenings in MacNiven’s on Mass Ave. As I’ve said before, they have a beer menu that runs into tomorrow, and windows and mirrors that disorient even before the first frothy gulp. I lived in mirrors that summer.
247/365 He Enters the Bar Already an Illusion
247/365
A man enters behind me but I see him in front of me while I look on in a mirror with a man looking back at me but not seeing me because he faces the other way. Reflections upon reflections upon reflections.
240/365 MacNivens on Mass Ave
240/365 My favorite bar on Mass Ave. Full of memories. All good.
MacNiven’s, a Scottish bar with a beer menu that runs into tomorrow, has a bank of windows, walls with windows, and mirrors. I go there and find reflections reflecting reflections, a world of illusions. It’s perfect for a bar because you feel disoriented even before the first sip.
164 – 174 Catch Up!
While in New Orleans, I had minimal access to a computer and no access to my photos so I have fallen behind. Catch up time!
I grabbed Todd for a photo shoot so that I could get a “white male” demographic for the school’s capstone event. (The Media Arts & Science program director at the time was complaining that his demographic wasn’t being represented in the design work I had been doing for capstones.) The following two images are of the photo I took and of the design I ended up creating.
164/365
The Church I attended back in 2000-whatever had just installed a new organ with a chamade. The chamade are horns that extend out over the organ instead of up to the ceiling. I want to call these trompette-en-chamade but I’m not 100% certain that’s what they are, but my guess is that’s what they are. Truly impressive. Unfortunately, the person who knew how to play them left that congregation and now they sit unused because the minister didn’t hire a real organist.
165/365
The following two photos have been manipulated in Photoshop to get a vintage feel. One day I was feeling restless and took off, trying to get lost. It’s very hard to get lost in Indiana. I ended up in Peru, Indiana where they have a clown school. And, apparently Sherrill’s has a thriving sense of humor.
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167/365
On my quest to get lost, I ended up at Mississinewa Lake where I wandered the deserted beach.
168/365
The following was taken with a point-and-shoot where the flash fired. What an odd firing pattern! But I love the colors and the depth that came out of it.
169/365
In one of my master classes, I began the seedling for my final master project. It would be an art installation. I created a movie that moved v e r y s l o w l y. It’s called “Senescence” and this is one of the beginning slides.
170/365
I was the official photographer for the other classmates working on their own projects. This gal was working on a 3-D project. The weird glasses and the remote with the ball-topped antenna receive signals from a computer to determine where you are in the program. If you build enough rooms, wearing these accessories makes you feel like you’re walking through them. Really cool.
171/365
The following three photos were taken downtown Indianapolis on Monument Circle. The last two are reflection photos.
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118/365 Many Reflections
Europe, I thought. Belgium. Brussels. I remember that Rue just down from the Grande Place somewhere. I remember the corner triangle, the old buildings, even the Smart cars. There were Smart cars in Belgium long before there were Smart cars in the USA. Yes, I remember. Such a lovely, old city. Except…
118/365 No. 1
…it’s not Brussels. It’s downtown Indianapolis. And those aren’t Smart cars. They’re normal cars. But…???
I’ll tell you my favorite downtown photography secret. Shhhh. *Indianapolis Power and Light* (IPL). Seriously. If you go downtown, go to IPL on Monument Circle and look in their windows and at their mirrors. You will be amazed at the variety of photographic opportunities you’ll find there.
118/365 No. 2
Look! It’s Loomis-Fargo & Co., armored transport for all your security needs. I’d trust my money to it. It’s so cute! And, as we all know, cute is important when you need armored transport.
118/365 No. 3
Besides for the fun-house mirrors, IPL also has these beautiful colored mirrors inside the building viewable through picture-glass windows. They make for great abstract images as you can see with the above photo. Yesterday’s post was of a photo taken through the window looking into a round, green mirror.
118/365 No. 4
I left Monument Circle and, being chilled because, after all, it was February, I went to Starbucks on Ohio Street. I ordered a grande, no whip, white peppermint mocha and sat at the long table facing the street. As I warmed up and sipped my coffee, I noticed the reflections in the windows of the building across the street.
118/365 No. 5
After a while, I turned inward to think about, oh, I don’t know, whatever was on my mind at the time. That’s when I noticed the reflection of my hand in the window. A single ring graced my finger. I took it off and placed it on the countertop.
I’m fascinated by mirrors and reflections. A lot of my photography incorporates them. It’s because I see life through reflections. I don’t see it clearly. Sometimes, though, I wish I did.
29/365 A Lamp That Doesn’t Light
29/365
I sit alone in a bar looking out the dirty window at a stormy sky. A golden lamp hangs suspended in the window. But the lamp is an illusion. Like a rainbow, it can’t be touched. Going beyond the window destroys the lamplight and I’m left with mundane darkness.
28/365 Reflection of Freedom
28/365
Hm. Not sure how to approach this photo. The flag is in the window of the City/County building in downtown Indianapolis. I had anticipated filing my petition for divorce on this particular day in 2008, but it was the Friday after Thanksgiving and the building was closed. So I took photos instead. In a way, the flag is symbolic of the freedom I was soon to experience. But the divorce was benign and we’re still friends so, really, the freedom isn’t what was important for me.
Right now, today, though, as I look at the photo I’m disturbed. The flag should inspire me to patriotism, but with all the turmoil that is going on and the polarities being created, I’m not so patriotic anymore and that makes me sad.
365/345 Reflecting in the Subconscious
The absolute straightness, the hard edges, the solid shapes of this world break up into quiet waves when reflected in still water. I think of water as symbolic of our subconscious. Does the world break up into quiet waves when reflecting in the subconscious? And what happens when the water is disturbed? The reflections dissipate into unrecognizable patterns, retaining little of their worldly structure. I am uncomfortable during a disturbance, and yet that is when exciting things happen, when new paradigms are found, when an old worldview is surprised that a new worldview has formed.
365/346 Confusion
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There’s something odd about this. What? Why does my brain get confused? It’s a bridge, right? A bridge, mirrored in the near calm waters it crosses. The image is upside down, I know, but shouldn’t my brain be able to process this the same as if it were right-side up?
I am intrigued by the confusion this simple mirrored effect creates. Don’t you just want to turn it right-side up? I do.
365/353 Mirror and Lace
353/365
Droplets gather and, like tears, stream down the face of the mirror, clearing the fog to reveal her covered in lace.
