I got a spherical camera for my birthday two years ago, and my photography has never been the same. I found that the spherical camera allows me to build on other artists' work and, simultaneously, create an exercise in visualization for the viewer. Whether I put the camera into a gigantic Platonic Solid, a modern bamboo structure, or an intricate origami creation, the result is has its own unique aesthetic. The viewer has a choice to simply appreciate the 2-dimensional image for its own sake, or try to figure out how it was "mapped" from the original object. Being able to communicate to the viewer on both the artistic and intellectual levels has been very satisfying for me.
At the 2018 Joint Mathematics Meetings Art Exhibition, David Honda won first prize for his construction “Dodecahedral 11-holed Torus.” The dodecahedral symmetry of the object was quite apparent, but the topological classification of the entire surface was less obvious. I was originally motivated to create this print, which is approximately a stereographic projection of David's piece, in order to help the viewer understand that the surface is homeomorphic to an 11-holed torus. I then discovered the beautiful pentagonal symmetries of the image, and decided to focus on highlighting them. The spherical camera placed inside the dodecahedral torus gives a unique view of its inside that is otherwise inaccessible to the viewer.
At the 2018 Joint Mathematics Meetings Art Exhibition, David Honda won first prize for his construction “Dodecahedral 11-holed Torus.” The dodecahedral symmetry of the object was quite apparent, but the topological classification of the entire surface was less obvious. I was originally motivated to create this print, which is approximately a stereographic projection of David's piece, in order to help the viewer understand that the surface is homeomorphic to an 11-holed torus. I then discovered that precise placement of the camera inside the torus produced an image which was at once simple like a daisy and intricate. The spherical camera placed inside the torus gives a unique view of its inside that is otherwise inaccessible to the viewer.
