Most artists have multiple identities and often multiple careers; the painter who photographs (Robert Rauschenberg); the actor who writes (Sam Shepard); the lyricist who writes his own music and vice versa (Stephen Sondheim); or the photographer who is a musician (Ansel Adams). Sometimes one or both of the identities must remain hidden or generally disguised because of conflicts they might create. Such is the case with the noted photographer Rollo Phlecks.

In the early 1970s the man who would become Rollo Phlecks was enjoying a career in both writing and music production. In the summer of 1972 he came to the aid of celebrated photographer Bert Stern and as a thank you, Stern gifted him a flawless f2.8 Rolleiflex, one of the finest medium format cameras ever built. Stern suggested that by using the camera, his amateur photographic work would improve immeasurably. Needless to say, Stern was right, and within a few weeks the name Rollo Phlecks began appearing under photographs in magazines, newspaper articles and on record albums.

We are all part of a seemingly constant but ever evolving universe. Despite its changing nature the universe is always in complete harmony with itself. The panels that make up Harmonious Universe #8 are seemingly constant but they also change from moment to moment and hour to hour as light from our universe passes through them at varying heights, creating different effects depending on the time of day. When the sun hits the panels, swimmers are fully immersed in soothing, colourful light.