When I visited Calgary earlier this year to cover Beakerhead, I had the pleasure of walking around the city with an extremely talented photographer, Neil Zeller. When we approached Calgary's tallest tower, The Bow, this amazing sculpture by Jaume Plensa named Wonderland immediately caught my attention. What stood out most was how remarkable it looked from several distinct angles.
The wire mesh piece stands 39-feet-high and resembles a young girl's head. (It was actually inspired by a real girl in Spain.) Interestingly, the sculpture has two entrances so that visitors can walk inside of it. Plensa explains: “My vision for Wonderland is to inspire everyone who experiences the sculpture: I believe the architecture of our bodies is the palace for our dreams.”
I asked Neil, a local Calgarian, if he could snap some shots of the sculpture from different angles at night, just as we experienced it together. He graciously agreed.
“I am mesmerized by the depth of the shapes as I move around her,” Neil says. “At night, It's almost like viewing a rendering on a computer screen as she doesn't cast shadows by the way she is lit. Stepping inside the head is a whole different experience as it feels almost childlike. It's almost like being in every cool playhouse or tree fort you remember as a kid. The photos taken from inside will never do justice to that sensation, it's something you have to experience to understand.”
Thank you, Neil, for the incredible shots!
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