Michael Wilkins
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Photograph of the Arch of Constantine in Rome reflected in a large rain puddle, the arch upright in the top half of the frame and mirrored below, a single figure walking past in silhouette.

Constantine, Twice

Rome, Italy · December 2019

1D X Mark II, 24 millimetres, f 8, 1/125 of a second, ISO 500

It rained all night. By morning the road had turned into a mirror.

Overnight rain left a sheet of standing water across the road beside the Colosseum, and the Arch of Constantine landed in it almost perfectly square. I got the camera down to about an inch off the surface to hold both the arch and the full reflection. The figure walking through was luck — without someone in it the frame is just symmetry, and symmetry on its own gets dull very quickly.

Part of Rome, a series.