Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

22nd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Artistic
HANABI #5

This photo was taken of fireworks using ICM (Intentional camera movement). Fireworks on summer nights are a seasonal feature of summer in Japan. Fireworks that open for a moment and then disappear are also ephemeral, and are launched during the Obon period to welcome ancestors as a sign of repose. Large fireworks are made up of a collection of smaller fireworks, and when they are launched into the sky, they spread out in a concentric circle in an instant and then disappear. If you move the camera while taking a photo of fireworks, the fireworks will move relatively quickly and appear as lines in the photo. In other words, like a seismograph, you can stretch out the flickering on the time axis and capture it in detail. The "way of moving" the camera while taking a photo allows for freedom that cannot be achieved with fixed photography, so by rotating and shaking the camera slightly, I added "atmosphere" and "wavering" to create an abstract expression. The energy of the fireworks and the movement of the people make them appear in the photo as if they were alive.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2024
Date Uploaded: 12.2024
Photo Location: Matsue City, Japan
Camera: ILCE-7RM4
Copyright: © Masahiro Hiroike