When Up is Down: Paul Murray

The Mirror Tarn is one of my favourite places. The tarn (small mountain lake) is surrounded by dense beech forest that protect the surface of the water from even the slightest breeze. The tarn is very deep and the water is stained a dark tea hue from the tannins released from the beech-tree leaves and appears jet black. The surface of the tarn forms a perfect mirror of the sky and makes for some very interesting photographic opportunities. 

The first image was shown in an exhibition I did in Tokyo many years ago and was very popular with the Japanese. The subsequent images are taken with a 300 zoom across the tarn to where the forest meets the water. I love the imagery and the enhanced abstract nature of the photographs when they are rotated…each angle gives the photos new interpretation. 

The Mirror Tarn is in the Oparara Basin in Karamea on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand