In photography, film and advertising, one can find several works about explosion and destruction. To capture an explosion is like freezing an ephemeral action in time.
In 19th century, Etienne Jules Marrey, a french scientist, wondered at how movement was made and he was first to take pictures of elements in motion.
Jonathan Knowles, Gold and Siver.
Jonathan Knowles, english photographer, captures pictures of exploding elements: water, coffe or other liquids for example. He shots the decisive moment, peace after a tense moment.Jonathan Knowles created a very interesting “Liquid” set and I have asked him “How did you come up with the idea of liquid blasting?”
“I have always been fascinated by the natural forms in nature which are invisible to the human eye. On the first roll of film I ever shot, there were images of splashes in milk created on a sunny day in our family garden. There is amazing beauty within these liquid forms which will immediately disappear if it is not captured. I work with my lighting to enhance that beauty, and have developed techniques to ‘control’ these explosions in the way that I wish to pursue them.”
Jonathan Knowles, Falling Tea.
Jonathan Knowles, Cappuccino.
We see the violence of a blast in many ads and many films.Most of the time, results are amazing but in Alka Sletzer’s case ( created by BBDO, Bangkok), for example, the ads are far too polished, too clean, we can hardly imagine the explosion and therefor the flavor bursting out of the food.
In the Choice FM Campaign, we feel the violence of the blast. When the bullet goes through the fruit, the food, or anything else, we think at his impact on a human being. Here, the blast denounces the gun’s legitimacy: “Stop the bullets, Kill the Gun”. This stunning film moves the viewer to really consider the effects of gun crime and the aftermath, particularly the physical implications of a bullet to the head.
Martin Klimas presents an amazing body of work with flowers and small statues, he suspends the time. Rosecrans Baldwin says on The Morning News: “Martin Klimas breaks recognizable objects so they become something else, and stops us just at the moment of transformation.”
I answer him if, with this work, he wanted to destroy stereotypes and gives us a new point of view of the statues?:
“No, not really but I want to open the eye for a forgotten world and I try to rebirth a reception for these things through the circumstancce that it is been destroyed.”
Just for fun, I end this post with pictures of selfdestruction and serial explosions on Flickr and an advertising of Cadbury.
1. High Speed Flash Test 1.0 (363), 2. pequeña explosión, 3. Green Balloon, 4. popped balloon, 5. Esplosione – Explosion, 6. Explosion, 7. BB vs. Lamp, 8. 35MM_B&W_140002, 9. Water balloon explosion 2, 10. Orange Splash, 11. Mini Sculptures, 12. Rosa de agua
Thanks to Jonathan Knowles, Martin Klimas and Natalie.
Written by Emma
4 comments
Rémy C
Amazing! Nice article, love the Choice FM Campaign.
4 months ago
Spencer Fry
Great article. Amazing images.
4 months ago
rachel
the top Martin Klimas photo is the most powerful for me because the shattering actually reflects the action of the statue. But, I mean, these are all fascinating to look at.
3 months ago
andy
i agree with rachel, the top statuette seems to fly forward amid a cloud of kicked up dust and rock. the kinetic inertia of the figure makes it look to me not like it is breaking but like it is assembling itself into flight
3 months ago
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