The Suwannee River lives in American folklore as the locale for Stephen Foster’s 1851 minstrel show song beginning with the famous words “Way down upon the Swanee River.” (Foster intentionally misspelled the river’s name to fit the melody of the song.) The Suwannee River is romanticized in that song, officially known as “Old Folks at Home.” (Foster never saw the Suwannee, and never visited Florida. He lived in Pittsburgh.) Although Foster’s lyrics used an archaic slave dialect that now seems to romanticize slavery and are often interpreted as racism against Black Americans, the Suwannee River itself will forever be linked to Foster and his world-famous song. I did not want to photograph the Suwannee River descriptively. It looks just like any other Southern river. Rather, I turn to reflection to speak of the mysteries that seem to flow within its currents. By abstracting this image, I cause those currents to turn trees into abstract wiggly probes, and vegetation into a green palette floating upon silvery powder. The name Suwannee lives only in the context – while the image itself lives entirely in the imagination.

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art features reflective signage mirroring the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, which stands just across the sidewalk. The reflection changes the appearance of the desert plantings that line that sidewalk, creating a work of abstract art by merging two artistic institutions into one.

I use reflection in a store window here to abstract a set of international flags flying over a nearby restaurant. The early morning light passes through the flags, creating translucence and vivid coloration. The wavy surface of the glass in this old store distorts the flags and molds the translucent color into repeating patterns.

Three centuries of architecture come together in this image. A 21st century office building reflects an ethereal visage of the early 20th century, green turreted Royal York Hotel, while a late 19th century office building provides contrast at left. I integrate the scene by including a spray of leaves at right, which point at the old office structure and overlap the reflected image.

A figure out of Ipswich history is painted on the side of this building, once used as a mill by General Electric. His head is cocked, as if he is listening to voices from the past. Next to him, old window glass reflects a distorted view of another old building in the town. I honed down the image to just these two elements. Together they achieve a sense of historical harmony.

Jacksonville is an amazingly well preserved Victorian town. Its streets are lined with 19th century buildings, including this old structure which stands on a side street like an old ghost. I noticed two clouds hanging directly over the building. The sky and pair of clouds that begin at the top of the frame seem to continue via reflections within the pair of windows at the bottom of the frame. This image makes the building seem to be transparent, and even more ghostly than it is.