Studio Shot: Broken II

[Mike Buckley]

I like that idea, Greg. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Marie Hass]

Dear Mike,

Your images have my interest. May I ask you some questions? What compels you with glass? What is it you see and wish to convey? I have followed your other glass threads as well, and want to experience your visions as you have presented them. Is it the light play? Is it how glass can appear both organized and chaotic depending on how the image is presented?

Please share. I "get" the technical aspects, but want to understand what drives you viscerally.

Marie

[Mike Buckley]

Great questions, Marie! They are so good that I will be pleased if my answers are just half as good.

The main thing that initially compelled me to photograph glass is that I wanted to combine my hobbies of wine and photography. Wine, of course, is traditionally stored in and drunk from objects made of glass, so that meant learning to appreciate the various qualities of glass to be able to effectively photograph them.

I began seeing glass in ways that I had never considered, much less experienced. I quickly realized that objects made of glass can be so interesting! They can be curvilinear, rectilinear or a combination of the two. They can be highly textured, indeed, smooth as glass or both. They can be colorful, clear or both. Unlike most objects that only reflect color, objects made of clear glass can actually create color by dispersing white light into the colors of the spectrum. Objects made of glass can be opaque, translucent, transparent or all three and those qualities can change according to how a particular object is lit. Their imperfections can be gorgeous or ugly, which is especially interesting because ugliness when portrayed in a photograph can be beautiful. Their details can be effectively displayed in the context of realism or abstraction. And as this thread hopefully demonstrates, objects made of glass can take on a particular character when they are whole and a very different character when they are broken.

[Marie Hass]

Mike,

I am honored that you shared. Knowing how you see your glass makes your images come alive and speak volumes.

Marie