Surreal Photographs of a Giant Mirror Reflecting the Horizon

16 years ago, photographer Murray Fredericks wandered away from his campsite adjacent to a vast salt lake in Australia and found himself alone in the darkness, bathed in an unfamiliar state of serenity and self-reflection. The Vanity series – a resulting body of work going on display at Hamiltons Gallery in London this week – is a continuation of Fredericks’ captivatingly beautiful Salt project, a selection of landscape photographs of Lake Eyre located in South Australia. “Standing in the silken water, surrounded only by a boundless horizon, I sense a release, surrendering as the self dissolves into the light and space,” he explains. 

In the latest chapter of the series, Fredericks disturbed the landscape by introducing a large mirror, which he assiduously carried himself to the centre of the lake upon each of his visits. “Rather than reflecting our own image, the mirror is positioned to draw our gaze away from ourselves and into the environment, encouraging us to engage with light, colour and space,” he says. And indeed, Fredericks’ photography provides a healthy dose of escapism; a perfect antidote to the Monday blues. 

The Salt: Vanity Series by Murray Fredericks is on display from April 28 until June 2, 2017 at Hamiltons Gallery, London.