I know what you’re thinking: you’ve seen this kind of thing before. Perhaps you’re even sick of seeing photographs of exploding objects and food. However, we believe self-described ‘obscure photographer’ Alan Sailer is onto something.
An engineer by trade, Sailer finds toys at garage sales, fills them with colored gelatin, then blows them up with firecrackers in his garage. He’s clearly having fun with these experiments, and the results are freaky and grotesque, yet oddly appealing. For everyone who has wanted to blow up an annoying Mr. Potato Head and photograph the carnage, too late. It’s been done.
SANDWICH Textures, an ongoing collaboration between Tokyo-based photographer Taisuke Koyama and artist Kohei Nawa, began in 2010 when Koyama visited Nawa’s studio, SANDWICH, in order to photograph various textures found around the art space.
With a macro lens, Koyama captured these photographs of Nawa’s drawings, artist materials and random objects turning everyday elements of the studio into extraordinarily detailed abstract works of art.
Heikki Leis was born in Tartu, Estonia and has lived and worked in the same town for the better part of his life. He has been working as a freelance artist since 2000 and an avid photographer since 2004. These macro photographs of decaying vegetables are from his series, Afterlife.
via Environmental Graffiti
Pery Burge is an artist photographing ink, glass and natural objects with a macro lens. Using nature as her inspiration, Burge’s process involves using a Canon EOS 500D digital camera with EF100mm F2.8 macro lens to photograph ink flowing through water.
Sharon Johnstone is a Birmingham, England based fine art nature photographer. She completed her Fine Arts degree at the University of Creative Arts in 1993, specializing in printmaking. Of her dew drop photographs, she writes:
‘With macro photography I escape to another little world. I love exploring the tiny details in nature that often get overlooked. I love finding beautiful colors and abstract compositions within nature. I think I am at my happiest when I am crawling around on my hands and knees exploring a small patch of moss dripping with sparkling dew in the early morning sun.’
Jane Thomas lives in Largs, Scotland, where she photographs colors and patterns arising naturally from the interference of reflected light rays from the front and rear surface of a thin film of water and soap held in a tiny frame (a ‘bubble wand’). The inner circle that she uses for these photos measures 18mm, and some of the shots are of tiny areas within that ring.
West Hartford, Connecticut photographer and psychologist Cliff Briggie uses ice, paint, light and water to make these abstract ‘ice paintings’. Instead of using Photoshop, he relies on the ice and paint to morph into something unexpected and unique. He writes: ‘A photograph captures a moment too brief to see. Within the moment is a flash, color, form, or movement-always different, always extraordinary. Little pieces of paint take on a life of their own, suddenly exploding, colors streaming everywhere and then they are gone forever. It is at once so breathtaking, heartbreaking, and compelling that I have missed more than a shot or two.’
via Paranoias
James Day lives and works in London, where he specializes in shooting still life, automotive and portraits for advertising and editorial clients. Over the years his images have been used in many award winning advertising campaigns for clients such as British Airways, Harvey Nichols, Sony, Ford, Audi, and Heineken to name just a few. He also shoots editorially for The New York Times, Time Magazine, Vanity Fair, GQ, and Wired on a regular basis. Day is represented by Siobhan Squire in London.
