In 2007 I noticed and admired the work of several artists using horizontal and/or vertical mirroring in architectural photography, and began to imagine what results I might achieve by focusing on other subjects. To begin with I tried mixing built with natural elements, and my first exhibition included pieces that contained both. Over the years however I have gradually moved to excluding the built environment from my compositions to focus on purely natural forms.
The images are, as far as possible, straight from camera with a minimum of post-processing. They may be colour and contrast corrected and, in some cases, cropped along one or both of the mirrored edges to fine tune the joins that are so critical to making the composition work. It would be possible, although very labour intensive, to produce prints like these using traditional photographic film and printing processes. however, all these have been taken and assembled digitally.
Over the ten years I was sporadically making these images, I was kept busy as a film-maker and editor, and consequently did very little in the way of exhibiting or otherwise sharing my photographic work. When struck by ME/CFS in 2013, I had to accept that the intense effort and long hours typical in film making were beyond me, but photography was still doable, just, and the project of curating this body of was a joyfully rehabilitating experience.
In 2018 I began tentatively to return to video editing work, and in 2020 took on my first project as a film maker since 2013. So whilst this site is mostly dedicated to my photographic work, there is now a films section too.
I hope you enjoy viewing my work.
John Hill-Daniel