A complex refraction pattern of a beam of light passing through a piece of formed plastic. Coloured dyes have been added to the hardening plastic which increase its complexity. The refraction pattern is captured directly on to colour reversal film as a colour 'photogram'.
It is a pure analogue image and has not been computer generated or enhanced.
As a research scientist I have always been fascinated in making visible the invisible. During my career in optical and electron microscopy I studied the world of the very small - now I explore the strange and wonderful world of refraction patterns. Working with transparent glass, plastics and resins I create small refractive objects which replace the camera lens of a 35mm SLR film camera. Using a single static beam of light the complex patterns that these objects form are projected directly on to film in a system where the refractive object becomes the 'camera lens' and the light source is the photographic subject. I call these images "Refractographs".
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