light Music 42
This photograph was modeled after Sir Issac Newton's discovery in 1665 that a light prism splits white light into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. A second prism nearby is reflecting that phenomena on its lateral face (or side). This image led me to spend the next two years experimenting with prismatic light.
Light Music 8
The industrial prisms I was using were approximately1" x 4". In order to suspend them in space I used wire and you can see some magnification and refraction in the surfaces. The prismatic light in the background is projected off of a prism set on a tripod underneath a skylight in an otherwise dark room.
Light Music 34
At the suggestion of stained glass artist friend I purchased some pyrex glass rods which are used in laboratories to stir chemicals. I drilled holes in a two by four to hold the rods upright and used a white backdrop and projected the prismatic light through them onto the background. You can see that they reacted to the light very differently from the prisms in Light Music 8 & 42. The faint blue lines in the background is light reflected on the backdrop
Roger Camp is the author of three photography books including the award winning Butterflies in Flight, Thames & Hudson, 2002. His documentary photography has been awarded the Europe’s prestigious Leica Medal of Excellence and published in numerous journals including The New England Review, New York Quarterly, North American Review and Orion Magazine. His archives are held by the University of California, Santa Barbara, Library, Special Research Collections.