Photography Atelier

Stephen Shapiro

Interesting Life of Bubbles

I wondered what the camera would reveal if I made bubbles in a glass container by pouring a stream of water into it.  I am a scientist and engineer and I thought that the water stream would drag air into the bowl and, as it filled, form bubbles in the turbulent water.  I photographed the bubbles from above in a bowl and from the side in a flat sided vase.  I was surprised by the variety of patterns of the bubbles and how the light reflected off them.

Photographed from the side, light trails appeared from the rising bubbles in the turbulent water.  I surrounded the glass containers with lights of different color and used slow shutter speed to capture the trails.  I aimed my camera down at the surface of the water. Bubbles formed, expanded and finally collapsed. I could not help wondering if this is what our universe looks like to some far distant timeless observer.  

I began this photographic adventure by taking my camera and wondering, “what would happen if…” and ended up finding the universe in a bowl of water.  Fascinating, as Spock would say.

Artist Bio

Stephen Shapiro is a photographer now living in Arlington, Massachusetts.  His formal training is in science and engineering where he works to develop consumer and medical products.  His early artistic interests included black and white film photography, a medium that allowed control of the photographic process from taking the picture to the making of prints.  He kept a basement darkroom while raising a family in Scituate Massachusetts. Now, the Shapiro wet darkroom is gone, replaced by software, and ink-jet printers, he continues to control his picture making process and, in the digital age, he controls his color as well as his black and white photographs.

Shapiro has recently begun to exhibit his fine art prints.  His work was included in 2015 shows at the Lexington Massachusetts Art Association, the 2015 “Illuminations Exhibit” at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston MA, photographs from his portfolio, “Night Lights” were exhibited in “Photography Atelier 20” at the Griffin Museum in Winchester MA, and he has exhibited in the Griffin Museum’s member shows of 2013 and 2014. 

Shapiro studied with Eddie Soloway in a National Geographic workshop on outdoor photography.  He is a member of the Lexington Art Association and the Griffin Museum of Photography.  He studies fine art photography with Karen Davis, Meg Birnbaum and Amy Rindskopf at Photography Atelier.  

http://stephenshapirophoto.com

Contact Stephen Shapiro