Vortograph 1917

Alvin Langdon Coburn made this photograph, Vortograph, by using a kaleidoscope lens on his camera. Doesn’t it make you wonder what Coburn was thinking, turning his lens into a kaleidoscope, fragmenting reality? Did he want to capture the speed of modern life, or maybe the inner life of thoughts and feelings? He broke down the image into these shards of light and dark, repeating and reflecting. It reminds me of Cubism, like Picasso and Braque had gotten inside the camera. Look at the way the light catches on those crystalline shapes. The dark areas push forward and recede, creating depth and movement all at once. It’s like the world is exploding and reforming in the same instant. You can see echoes of futurism in its dynamism, a love of machinery and movement. It reminds me that art is a conversation across time, and Coburn was listening and responding with his own unique voice.