About the work

Fibonacci Landscapes applies mathematical rules rather than aesthetic judgement to fragment and reorganise landscape photography. Each image is divided into vertical strips according to the Fibonacci sequence, physically cut and rearranged, then rephotographed.

The process

Photographs are made intuitively in the field, then subjected to a rules-based intervention: division into vertical strips at Fibonacci-proportioned widths, physical cutting and reassembly, and rephotographing the resulting collage. Original hand-cut collages carry pencilled Fibonacci notation beneath each strip — evidence of the system at work. These marks remain visible only on the physical object; reproduced editions present the fragmented result without them.

The Fibonacci sequence functions here as an arbitrary constraint driving process, not as a subject. The mathematical rule is deterministic; its effect on any given image is not. The method serves as a kind of diagnostic — images with uniform texture fail; landscapes with strong internal contrasts survive and are enhanced by fragmentation.

What the work does

The fragmentation interrupts ecological legibility. Spatial coherence breaks down when a tree cannot be followed from ground to canopy. Light quality shifts between panels suggest different moments. Scale and distance become unreliable. The eye is forced to work — to move between fragments, to attend to overlooked formal elements: branch architecture, textural contrasts, compositional rhythms that a coherent frame would subsume.

The work enacts fragmentation as method rather than documenting it.

Matthew Lewis

Matthew Lewis works as Purple Emperor. Based in [location].