Magical Photography Through a Glass Ball

Photography Tips

Lithuanian photographer Andrius Aleksandravicius has a distorted view of the world. But in a very good way. Aleksandravicius came up with the incredibly creative Glass Ball Project; he takes pictures of buildings through an actual glass ball, all flipped upside down and round—each one giving us a magical view of an ordinary scene:

Aleksandravičius and his girlfriend traveled around Spain, taking photos of the diverse architecture through the glass ball—from Seville’s historic buildings and Gothic Cathedral to Valencia’s modern architecture and on to Barcelona, which blends the old and the new beautifully and where he finished the trip with a gallery show of the Glass Ball Project.

The inspiration came from a kaleidoscope—Aleksandravičius discovered there was a glass ball inside so he took the whole thing apart and started taking pictures through the little glass ball. He wanted to make ordinary scenes interesting.

In the video, he talks about how you’re happy with your shots in the beginning, but as you take so many, accumulate them, it can be a little overwhelming, even desperate looking. But then, he says, selecting your best works, knowing you can do better, that’s the exciting part.

Aleksandravičius also talks about the feeling of seeing his pictures in large print, ready to be displayed in public. It’s a strange feeling, but cool because he gets to look at them from a new perspective. To him, they look absolutely different.

His first digital camera was a Nikon D60. For his roadtrip around Spain, he used a Nikon D5300. He liked how small it was, making it easy for him to carry it around the city. It’s all about finding the right angle and composition and sometimes he just can’t get the shot—either the building is too big or too small so he has to start again, testing different angles, patiently trying new perspectives.

The really cool thing, he says, its that ideas and inspiration can come suddenly, when you’re not expecting them.

“You take a picture, look at it and think, ‘This might be something big.'”

It’s great to see the process behind the project and the passion that went into it. You can see the complete elation Aleksandravicius feels at the exhibition, the trepidation, the pride and the overall sense of accomplishment.