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This Artist Pushes the Boundaries of Safety with his Explosive Photography

Photographer Ken Hermann detonates the viewer’s senses in his latest iteration of an ‘Explosion’ photography series.
All images courtesy the artist

A series of photographs of explosions, shot in mid-air, provoke a simmering and hazardous excitement in the viewer. With a well-timed click of the camera, the explosive acts can come to life and stay crystallized in their most appealing state with no disaster debris to speak of. Photographer Ken Hermann, currently based in Copenhagen, has traveled the globe bringing different geographic locations and cultures to public awareness, though he also proves in his latest works, Explosion 2.0  he has a penchant for taking risks for the sake of art.

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In a behind-the-scenes clip of the development process of taking a dramatic shot, the palpable danger of capturing the photos is unbelievable. Hermann proves he is an artist committed to his craft and likewise a fearless creator who will get close and personal to establish the perfect shot. An early clip of the Explosion team setting up the photo, captures the group setting a bag of explosives on fire in the center of a remote field.

Explosion 2.0 is a personal project and it is the second in a series of two.” The artist tells The Creators Project, “This time I teamed up with a professional fireworker who was responsible of the explosions because in my first run I almost burned down a whole field with some home-made stuff.”

“The explosions are made of different kind fireworks all controlled from a safe distance with a controller. Some of the fireworks are modified a little bit to get the right look and feel. All images are shot with a studio flash/strobe light.”

All the explosions are shot on location and the challenging part is to capture the explosion in the right moment. There is a lot of stuff you can’t plan ahead but this is what I like about these kinds of project. You never know what goes off.”

To see more photography from Ken Hermann, visit his website, here.

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