Most people walk past glass every day without ever really looking at it.
Windows, shop fronts, office buildings, puddles on the pavement — they’re everywhere. But for most of us, glass is just a barrier. Something we look through rather than at. I’ve always seen it differently.
Reflections are at the heart of much of my work. Not because I seek them out in an obvious way, but because my eye is constantly drawn to what they do. A single pane of glass can hold the world inside it and outside it at the same time. It layers one reality on top of another. And when the light is right, something quite extraordinary happens.
One of my favourite images — and my biggest seller — came from a moment exactly like this. I was looking into a window and I realised it had all the elements of a perfect picture. There were shapes, colours, patterns, and people. On both sides. Inside and outside, all contained within a single frame. It turned into a story that was incredibly detailed, and it had happened completely naturally. I simply used my skills to produce a vibrant, complex image and share what my creative eye had seen.
That’s the thing about reflections that people often misunderstand. When they look at one of my images and see what appears to be layers or depth, they often assume it’s been edited or composited. They wonder if I’ve blended two photographs together or added something in post-production. But what they’re seeing is exactly what was there.
The more carefully you look at the world around you, the more you realise how much it already does on its own. Glass creates depth. Puddles mirror the sky. Polished surfaces hold entire scenes within them. Nature and the built environment are already doing extraordinary things — we just tend to stop noticing.
For me, finding a great reflection is like finding a hidden door. On one side is the ordinary world that everyone else is walking through. On the other is something layered, complex, and full of quiet wonder. My job is simply to find that door, and to stand there long enough for the light to be just right.
Next time you pass a shop window or a glass building, try stopping for a moment. Look at the glass, not through it. You might be surprised by what’s already there.