Waterdrops

I've always been drawn to the hidden complexity within seemingly simple natural phenomena—the way light bends, refracts, and reveals unexpected perspectives when passing through different mediums. This fascination led me to explore macro photography as a tool for making the invisible visible, transforming ordinary water droplets into powerful optical instruments.

My technical process involves carefully positioning individual water drops on a glass plane, then photographing them at extreme magnification to capture how each droplet functions as a natural lens. Through refraction—the bending of light as it passes obliquely through the interface between air, water, and glass—each spherical drop inverts and focuses the image behind it, creating miniature windows into alternative perspectives. The challenge lies in precise positioning, lighting control, and achieving the critical focus needed to render both the droplet's surface tension and the refracted image within it sharply.

What began as an exploration for a photography course at Arizona State University evolved into an ongoing investigation of collision dynamics and optical properties. When quarantine prevented my original plan to capture splash photography, I pivoted to a more controlled approach: synchronizing multiple water drops to collide mid-air, capturing the precise moment when surface tension, gravity, and momentum create ephemeral sculptural forms. These collisions happen in milliseconds, requiring precise timing systems and high-speed photography techniques to freeze the action.

I experimented extensively with different mediums—milk, various viscosity solutions, and water mixed with different additives—to alter how the drops behave and interact. Each variation changes the surface tension and collision dynamics, producing unique sculptural shapes. Food coloring added another layer of visual complexity, while experimenting with backgrounds created additional refractive effects as light passed through the transparent drops, bending and distorting the colors and patterns behind them.

This body of work continues to evolve as I refine my technical approach and discover new ways to visualize the intersection of physics and aesthetics—moments of beauty that exist for only a fraction of a second.