The interplay between light, water and time can give extraordinary results in slow-shutter photography, a technique in which long(ish) exposures (1/15 – 1 sec) combine with various camera movements to yield magical streaks of light reflections on a surreal background. The covers and inlay photography of the four albums of my ambient and jazz guitar music project “Chromatographies” used this technique to turn familiar land and cityscapes into abstract paintings of movement, light and color.

The gallery above shows the photographs used for the four covers each followed by an (approximately) corresponding  image taken with a normal shutter speed and no camera movement. Click on each picture for an enlarged image and try to guess where they were taken. Read further below for the spoilers.

The image on the cover of Vol. 1 was taken at  nightfall in May 2017 onboard a motorboat on a set of lights lined up in a small pier in the coast of one of Singapore Southern  islands. Camera speed was 1/5 sec. A night image of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour was featured on the cover of Vol. 2,  taken in December 2013 from the opposite coast in Kowloon. Camera speed was 1/15 sec. The photograph for the cover of Vol. 3 shows the Nervión River in Bilbao, Spain, taken in July 2018 at dusk from the bridge opposite to the City Hall (which can be seen on the right hand side). Camera speed was 0.6 sec. The cover of Vol. 4 features a bridge over the Han River in Ankang, Shaanxi province, central China, taken in May 2023. Camera speed was 1/5 sec. The starry night sky was added in post-production. Cameras used were the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV for photographs in Vols. 1, 3 and 4, and EOS 5D Mark III for Vol. 2.