A selection of 10 spheres with different colours/patterns inside each.
A selection of 10 spheres with different colours/patterns inside each.

Fluid States – photography lecturer’s exhibition opens at London Museum of Water & Steam

Intro

A photography exhibition by University of West London lecturer Peter Bennett has recently opened at the London Museum of Water & Steam in Brentford. Peter is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Photography at UWL’s London School of Film Media and Design.

Main body

Peter John's photography work showing a sphere with multiple coloured inside.

‘Fluid States’ makes visible the interaction and motion of inks and oil in water, captured in extreme close-up within a petri dish. The work blurs the lines between the microscopic and the astronomic and encourages us to consider how the optics of both forms of augmented seeing lead to a similarity in the visual appearance of what is perceived.

Peter John's photography work showing a sphere with blue and purple colours inside.

The abstraction of these close-up images evokes the appearance of satellite/aerial mapping and telescopic images of distant planets, creating a strange ambiguity of scale and an association with geography. Appearing to sit somewhere between art and science, the images have an immediate appeal through their use of bright colours and shapes. However, they can also be seen to resemble the chemical reactions that take place both under a microscope and in the vast depths of space.

Commenting on  the exhibition Peter said, 

I see the London Museum of Water & Steam as a fitting location to be exhibiting this work due to the connection between the fluid movement of oil and water depicted in the images and that which takes place within the machinery of the museum."

Related news