Where M. C. Escher and I Meet

Nature is by no means opposed to the use of repeating patterns.  The patterns begin small and out of sight as molecular networks and work their way up through crystal caves and ocean waves to reach the repeating patterns of spiral galaxies reaching out far beyond our small blue planet.

My eye is and always has been attracted to patterns.  If you were to browse through a folder of my favorite photographs, you would find more than a few images of patterns I have captured in architecture, in a macro focus, or in natural landscapes.  I particularly enjoy a point of view that transforms patterns into something of an illusion.  In short, I like to do in my photography what M. C. Escher managed in art works.

Escher, a Dutch born graphic artist who died in 1972, greatly inspired me.  As a teenager, I had four posters of his work pinned to the walls of my bedroom.  In my house today, you will find four books filled with panels of his lithographs, woodcuts, and mezzotints.  M. C. Escher’s repeating patterns (tessellations) and explorations of infinity are confounding and beautiful in the same stroke.

Today I am posting two of M. C. Escher’s works and a photograph I captured.  I captured the photograph while visiting a temple in Seoul, South Korea.  The photo is a tight and purposely mis-angled view of the outside beam structure that has been covered with netting to discourage birds.

--Mitchell Hegman