A top-down view of murky, dark water with swirls of brown foam. Small pieces of plastic litter and debris float on the surface.

Photographer William Miller captures the unexpected abstract beauty on a New York canal's surface

Words: Rob Alderson
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Date: 26 February 2013; Work
Photography

Last year photographer William Miller wowed us with his Ruined Polaroids project, a stunning study of colour and texture produced using a broken Polaroid SX-70. The same unerring eye for finding visual gold in unlikely places is present in his newest body of work, Gowanus Canal. William is able to capture some real beauty in the scummy surface of this Brooklyn waterway, strange patterns and colours that take on the ethereal quality of abstract art under his expert lens. Flotsam and jetsam has never looked so good.

Swirling patterns of brown, beige and grey sediment create organic, fluid shapes across the frame. The textures resemble a marbled painting or an aerial view of a river delta. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

Pieces of white plastic waste and a clump of brown organic matter float on the surface of murky, dark water. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

A weathered, spherical buoy floats in dark, murky water. Swirls of pale foam and organic debris create intricate, vein-like patterns across the surface. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

A top-down view of murky, brownish-green water. Swirls of pale foam and sediment create a marbled texture across the surface. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

A brown rat swims through murky, grey water. Small pieces of white and coloured litter float on the surface around it. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

A close-up of dark, murky water with a shimmering trail of white foam and bubbles floating on the surface. The light catches the texture of the debris, creating a bright, jagged line across the frame. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

A close-up of murky, greyish water with a shimmering, oily surface. A discarded plastic bottle and a small piece of dark debris float in the ripples. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

A close-up of cracked ice with a shimmering, iridescent oil slick pooled on the surface. The oil creates swirls of gold, orange and purple against the pale blue and white ice. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

A small, pale cylindrical object floats in the centre of a dark, murky body of water. The surrounding liquid is a deep, opaque brown. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

A microscopic view of a rock slice, showing a dense mix of small, multi-coloured mineral grains. Larger, irregular fragments in shades of blue, black and pale yellow are embedded within the textured grey matrix. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

Swirls of blue, white and grey paint create marbled, organic shapes against a dark, textured background. The fluid patterns resemble geological formations or satellite imagery of a frozen landscape. — Above
William Miller: Untitled. Gowanus Canal

Further Info

www.williammillerphoto.com

About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

Photographer William Miller captures the unexpected abstract beauty on a New York canal's surface

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