Kaleidoscopes

Gift of William S. Huff

Spending a lifetime working in imagery, the wondrous invention of the kaleidoscope found a special spot in my heart from an early age, even before I first picked up a camera. Single Lens Reflex cameras utilize a mirror to focus the image onto film or sensor. There is a kindred spirit between cameras and kaleidoscopes. Both require light to optimally function. However, kaleidoscopes take on a more metaphysically abstract patterning of colors and shapes that harken to a dreamlike realm. Kaleidoscope’s diverge from mere mirrors in cameras and align with rainbow casting prisms suspended in sunlit windows. The kaleidoscope becomes a portal to transport one out of oneself to another place, beyond one’s own confining frame, acting as a celestial teleportation aid. Kaleidoscopes are symbolic of the inner unique metaphysical kaleidoscopes within us all.

-J N Miller, Museum Media Specialist