Flowervases by Martin Klimas

About the project:

Flawlessly arranged flower vases are shot by steel balls and captured at the moment of their destruction. When hit by the projectiles, glass vases shatter, and ceramic and stoneware vases burst into large fragments. What interests Klimas is not so much the moment of impact as the transformation is taking place in one seven-thousandth of a second. While the top half of the photograph remains poised in an absolutely harmonious still life, utter chaos has erupted below. The contrast of motionless and top speed explodes the triteness of the subject. The simultaneous presence of two distinct states and the improbable serenity of the pictures is positively spellbinding.

Naoya Hatakeyama uses remote-controlled cameras to capture limestone blasting in Japan. You can see his exhibit Natural Stories on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through November 2, 2012.

Usually explosions are thought of as action movie fodder, but Geoffrey H. Short has managed to turn them into high art in his photo series Towards Another Theory. Pieces from this project exploring the relationship between terror and the sublime can be seen at the Paris Chic Art Fair until October 24.