Justin Mullins
"Beauty"
Digital giclee print on Hahnemuhle archival paper, 90 cm x 60 cm, 1998.
"Ugliness"
Digital giclee print on Hahnemuhle archival paper, 100 cm x 65 cm, 2005.
"Ugliness High resolution"
Digital giclee print on Hahnemuhle archival paper, 100 cm x 65 cm, 2005.
Justin Mullins
"As for a few words of background, let me say upfront that I am not a mathematician. I lay no claim to the equations I have selected in my work. Those are the discoveries of the philosophers and scientists who spend their lives exploring the mathematical world and revealing its great wonders. For me they are like the great explorers returning from distant shores with tales of fantastic lands and magical creatures.
If mathematicians are explorers, then my role is that of a photographer who retraces their steps. During my journey, I photograph what I find. By that I mean frame it, record it and later present it.
There is nothing particularly special about this process. In the same way that an ordinary photograph is a snapshot of an area of outstanding natural beauty, I create snapshots of mathematical beauty. I call them mathematical photographs.
While the notion of mathematical beauty, and indeed ugliness, is well established, mathematics and mathematical physics can inspire (for me at least) an extraordinary mix of other emotions and ideas. For that reason, the equations in my photographs are much more than objects of 'austere beauty', as Bertrand Russell put it. I photograph them to explore their complex emotional and aesthetic values. For me, it is a journey of great wonder and excitement."
You can see more examples of my work at www.justinmullins.com "