“The World in a Bubble ” Project is a community-oriented photographic journey combining friends, strangers, and my camera in a common goal: To see our world from a different perspective.
The circle. The sphere. The bubble. These shapes are so ubiquitous in the world around us and deeply rooted in our very own imagination and psyche. Bubbles are fleeting, fantastic, and other-worldly yet familiar. We can look closely and find momentary reflections, small worlds within these floating orbs that too quickly pass away, never to be seen again. Unless you have a camera.
While I was enjoying a street fair in Galway, Ireland in the summer of 2006, bubbles from a nearby vendor floated past me. I saw a reflection in the spheres and quickly took a few shots and moved onto other subjects. When I returned from my trip and reviewed these shots closely I found a whole world in perfect focus. Since that moment I now carry bubble solution with me when I travel.
Bubbles have been seen floating past Neptune’s fountain in the old town Gdansk, Poland; between the tall walls of Geiranger Fjord, Norway; in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin; behind the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, and a number of other locations across western and eastern Europe. People watch and stare as I follow these floating bubbles around with my camera pressed to my eye. Crowds form, and my bubble blowing partners (friends or willing strangers) do their part to help make sure I don’t wander into traffic, for example, while in Times Square in New York City, or into the random passersby.
It’s photography. It’s a great social experiment. It’s a show. It’s all Natural. No digital manipulation of the bubbles aside from cropping, exposure adjustment, and the occasional B&W. These are all “as shot”.
You see what I saw.
It takes time, patience, teamwork, and a light-hearted approach. The very act of capturing these reflections is a meditation on virtue.
I see icons such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Pyramids and Sphinx, statues on Easter Island, and the Sydney Opera House within my bubbles.
In a time when a fresh perspective is most certainly needed, my ultimate goal is to travel worldwide and capture recognizable natural and man-made landmarks within this unorthodox and playful perspective: the floating bubble.
Here’s to Adventure and Community!
-tomstorm