Perspectives

Title: Chrysler Building Reflections. I exclusively shot film at the time I took this image, which was quite a few years ago. I never record the camera and film specifications, though at that time I was shooting with a Nikon N80 with an AF Zoom Nikkor 24-85 mm, f/2.8-4DIF lens, and using Kodak Portra. The glass curtain walls of international style architecture provide large, unadorned reflective surfaces that are heat tempered. Thermal tempering can induce deviations from flatness in the glass, known as warps, overall and local bows, and local and roller wave distortions. Depending on the surrounding structures reflected from the glass, which in this case is the iconic Chrysler Building, an infinite number of phantasmagoric images appear, one continuously morphing into another with slight shifts in perspective. It is interesting to this fan of distorted reflections that these deviations from flatness are typically discussed as defects in the construction materials literature, while actually not-to-be missed opportunities to create modern art images, underscoring a core message of photography: stop, or at least slow down, and contemplate our amazing world.