The Artist’s Blog of Marlene Breitenstein

Exploring the creative process: inspiration, techniques, challenges, results.

Wonder: An Exhibit at the Center for Fine Art Photography

by | Apr 23, 2024

Photograph of a dark lake surface with patches of wetland grasses. The grass is clumped in many mounds, which when reflected creates the impression of balls. The lake is deep gray, the balls take on a silvery reflection, and the stalks of grasses that still stand create thin, wavy, colorful lines on the water's surface.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … SUPER CONFUSING?! At least, that’s what I’ve heard from many people; they can’t figure out what this photo is of (more on that below). That’s one reason why it’s wonderful: it grabs your brain and won’t let go.

Selected for exhibit

Douglas McCulloh—the Senior Curator and Interim Executive Director of the California Museum of Photography—apparently thought so, too. He selected my photograph for inclusion in a show titled Wonder, which McCulloh juried.

Needless to say, I’m chuffed. Not only was this the first juried exhibit I entered, but only 60 works by 55 artists were selected, out of likely thousands of entries. I am grateful to both Mr. McCulloh and the Center for Fine Art Photography.

So what is it?

Some viewers have wondered if this photo is of:

  • coconuts
  • hanging balls of yarn
  • lamps
  • and even South American animals called capybaras

TWO unrelated people actually thought that last one!

But no, this photo, titled Reflecting on the Alpsee, is actually of mounds of dried wetland reeds and grasses on an alpine lake, just below Schwangau Castle in Bavaria, Germany.

With its curious appearance and trippy, colorful reflections (look closely in the dark water’s surface), this photograph draws attention, and begs further examination. It’s a world to get lost in.

Purchase it here

Reflecting on the Alpsee is available as a limited edition print in three sizes.

See the show online

Get a bigger dose of Wonder at the exhibit’s virtual showing. The show runs from January 31 to September 30, 2024.

Thanks for your time and attention, both are valuable. 🙏🏻
I invite you to view my photographs and paintings, and to learn more about me.

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©Marlene Breitenstein. I welcome your inquiries about purchasing, licensing, or republishing my work. I take my intellectual property seriously. This post and its contents, unless otherwise noted, is owned by Marlene Breitenstein. It is not to be reproduced, copied, or published in derivative, without permission from the artist.

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Head shot of Marlene Breitenstein, smiling, with long hair and a blurry background.
Marlene Breitenstein
Artist and Photographer
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Are you thinking, "What? I never heard of those."

Okay, since you actually clicked on this, and I’m a bit of an ambassador for things I believe in, I’ll explain:

Mastodon is the most engaging, refreshing social media I’ve experienced. It is a social network based on a non-profit, ad-free model, designed to allow the user fine control over what they choose to see and who they interact with, while retaining full data ownership. It may be smaller, but that’s actually a benefit!

Glass is an image-focused social network, designed by and for photographers, using a subscription-based model, which also provides full user and data control.

Where Am I?

Sometimes in the Washington, DC area.
Sometimes I’m traveling elsewhere.

Otherwise I’m near Landau in der Pfalz, in the Südliche Weinstrasse (Southern Wine Route) region of Germany, characterized by endless vineyards, and bordered by mountains covered with fairy-tale forests. France is 25 minutes away.