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A wide cityscape of dense buildings and skyscrapers. The image is mirrored vertically, creating a symmetrical reflection that makes the city appear to stretch infinitely upwards and downwards.

Photography: Ben Thomas creates Inception-like skylines

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Date
16 December 2013

Inception was a cool film, wasn’t it? If, like me, you’ve missed having your mind blown by flipping horizons and helter skelter streets since it was released a couple of years ago then here’s Ben Thomas to remind you how cool and simple such effects can be. Ben uses tilt shift photography techniques to capture city skylines looking strangely like miniatures, and then mirrors them back onto themselves with editing software to create a weird vortex-like landscape. Cool, isn’t it? Now let’s all take a moment to imagine how strange it would be if looking up into the sky you saw the head of somebody else looking down at your from miles away. Weird.

A 3D render of a city skyline where skyscrapers are mirrored and folded over one another. Below the distorted architecture, a waterfront area features a long pier and a green park.
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Ben Thomas: Accession

A mirrored image of a dense Tokyo cityscape, where buildings and neon signs are reflected vertically. A large white sign in the foreground reads “Tokyu”.
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Ben Thomas: Accession

A kaleidoscopic 3D render of a dense city skyline. The skyscrapers are mirrored and repeated in a symmetrical, geometric pattern that converges towards the centre.
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Ben Thomas: Accession

A high-angle view of a dense city skyline with beige and brown skyscrapers. The top half of the image is mirrored, creating a symmetrical, kaleidoscopic effect.
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Ben Thomas: Accession

A mirrored photograph of an industrial site, creating a symmetrical composition. The image shows a complex of steel scaffolding, solar panels and red structural beams, with a parking area and “OUT” signs at the top and bottom.
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Ben Thomas: Accession

A digital collage of a city skyline mirrored vertically across a central axis. Four tall skyscrapers stand centrally, their forms reflected and distorted to create a symmetrical, kaleidoscopic pattern.
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Ben Thomas: Accession

A digital collage of a city skyline mirrored vertically across a central axis. The skyscrapers of New York are reflected and distorted, creating a symmetrical, kaleidoscopic pattern above a strip of green park and a river.
Above

Ben Thomas: Accession

A digital collage of a city skyline where the top half of the image is mirrored and inverted. The lower half shows a dense cluster of low-rise buildings, while the upper half features towering skyscrapers reflecting downwards.
Above

Ben Thomas: Accession

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About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

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Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

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