"Jellyfish"

Digital print, 20" x 24" , 2009.

Two fractals are combined to mimic the shape of the jellyfish used to create this image. The "head" fractal uses the famous dragon curve iteration. Here, the first iteration maps the negative-sloped diagonal of the starting photograph to the lower edge, and also maps the same diagonal to the left edge. The "tail" fractal uses a double spiral iteration. The original photograph was taken at Monterey Bay Aquarium by the artist.

Kendra Lockman, Freelance photographer, artist, and teacher
Oakland, CA

"I began iterating photographs into fractals after watching a video on fractals, in which the point was made that whether you started with a single segment or a 2-dimensional photograph, the resulting fractal was the same. I explored this on my own and learned that it can be more visually interesting to expose each step of the iteration. Photographs interact with themselves at each iteration level to reveal new shape and structure. Fractals are appealing for their seemingly complex structures which bloom from often simple iteration rules. I find that using photographs in the iterations can make the fractals much more captivating than if they were created with abstract geometry. I work intensely between Photoshop and The Geometer's Sketchpad to create these images."