Special

YAMAMOTO Tomoko

Reflections to Reflections, 1989 to 2002

When I first started taking reflection photographs, I did not realize I was taking such a photo until I saw the result. This was the case with "Sky Reflections" in 1989. I was interested in getting a photo of wild calla above the water rather than reflections. The water looked all black to me when I shot the picture.

After seeing something I had not seen when I was shooting, I started looking for reflections before I even put a camera in front of me. Viewing angles make a big difference. I also started cropping the land when I shot my reflection photos.

Sometimes I happened upon a certain amount of light, too much for an ordinary photo, which was the case with "Day Dreams." When I was attracted to the water surface algae rather than the reflections, I ended up getting "Blue Dreams," which has been interpreted as a photo with double exposures by many. I got this photo through only one exposure.

Next I started experimenting with different lenses or different cameras. Two "panoramic" photos are examples from the Mamiya 6. With 35mm I have been progressing from the 100mm/2.8 lens in 1990 to the 250mm/2 lens in2002. With the use of faster lenses at a large aperture, I have been able to capture images with different textures.

I would like to continue challenging reflection photographs.