Over the Rainbow

I remember the exact moment the idea for this project came to mind. We were learning about refraction of light in physics and my teacher pulled out the magical "Rainbow glasses" to demonstrate what we were learning. As soon as I looked through the lens, I wanted to get out a camera and see if it could capture the same separation of light as my eye. So, I did just that and learned that not only could the camera capture the extended rainbows but it could also allow me to see the world in a different way. Nowadays, everyone focuses on the negative things that are happening in our world. News is all about horrific accidents or political corruption or some other tragedy. With all of this negative media being thrown at us, it is hard to remember that the world is still a good and beautiful place. This is exactly what I wanted to accomplish with this project. I used the camera and the rainbow glasses to document ordinary objects and make them look magical, proving that the world still really is beautiful and wonderful if you're willing to truly look at it. This concept is conveyed in each of the photos in this body of work. Underwater Vertigo is simply a photo of a statue of a fish and dragon at a Chinese restaurant. However, when the rainbow glasses are added into the equation, the boring statue becomes an intriguing photo that almost makes it seem as though you're underwater, amazed by the wonders of the sea. Flock of Flying Saucers is similar in that without the rainbow glasses, the photo would be too plain, too boring. However, when you filter a ceiling of lights with light separating glasses, you are left with a scene that looks unreal and almost out of this world. The same thing can be said for All the Lovely Lights which shows a chandelier that has hung over my dining room table for years. Much like how we take for granted the beauty in our world, I never realized how beautiful the light fixture could be, that is until I used the rainbow glasses. Rainbow Noir shows another light in my home, this one stained glass. This is yet another object whose splendor and craftsmanship I never truly understood until I looked at it through the lens of the camera, making me reflect deeper on what I saw. The Real World and Wonderland are the only two pieces of this collection that are connected when it comes to subject. While they are actually the same image, the two have been manipulated in different ways, one with the colors inverted and one with the colors as they truly are. It is this contrast of colors that shows all of the unseen magic of the world that I believe people need to start recognizing. Finally, the final piece of this project is called The End of the Rainbow. It is my hope that when people see these photos and read this statement, they will realize that they have been taking the world around them for granted. Now recognizing that there is goodness and beauty in this world we live in, the viewer should come out a more aware person. Just like the pot of gold a leprechaun finds at the end of the rainbow, the viewer will have (hopefully) found happiness. As you can tell, all of these photos are very meaningful to me and help to remind me that I too need to recognize the beauty of the world around me more often than I actually do. Now that you have seen the photos it is up to you. Will you choose to see the rainbows in your world?