Normally you would be quite concerned if you could see the inside of any firework, explosive, or pyrotechnic device. But Seattle based photographer Andrew Waits has thrown caution to the wind and dissected different fireworks, creating a strikingly graphic series called Boom City. The result is something that is almost as beautiful as the fireworks are when ignited. The explosives turn out to be quite interesting indeed – columns of cardboard or mulched paper encased in colored tissue, or some delicate covering, and stuffed full of intriguing colored pigments. Resembling some sort of school science project, the fireworks look deceptively amateur, and certainly not something that can cause such serious accidents. Names likeFlying Color Butterfly Rocket, Lightning Flash, Ground Bloom Flower, Moon Traveler’s Bottle Rocket, give the impression of fireworks being delightfully playful.
Waits quite often chooses subjects where he can study differences by comparing similarities. His past projects have included studies of people traveling in motor homes, living permanently on the road, and comparing the same site at both sunset and sunrise. Also having taken a series called Artifacts and Specimens, he seems to enjoy ordering and analyzing the things that surround us. Boom City is the perfect example of how Waits’ curiosity is piqued by examining the details of a particular subject.
See here for more of Waits’ beautiful aesthetic and interesting projects. And here is a video of drone footage seeing fireworks from yet another angle.
