Artist Reflections The Talmud describes visions of the divine as coming through an aspaklaria, a lens or filter, implying that they are imperfect or clouded. Higher levels of divine vision also pass through an aspaklaria, but an aspaklaria meira, a “lens that casts light.” Jewels, sparkling in flashes of vibrant color, show us that imperfect transparency can actually provide brilliance rather than dullness. At the right time and place, the ocean, too, has this prismatic effect, projecting splendor with a combination of protective opaqueness and revealing transparency. My goal in photography is not to use my lenses simply to document a scene as transparently as possible, but rather, through their refractions and reflections to cast out the deeper light of reality.