Steel Wool Photography by Steven Shubert. WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: wennoddpix057054
We were poking around on Newscom the other day and came across this fabulous collection from our partners at WENN. We thought the photos and story behind it were absolutely fabulous so we’re highlighting them as this week’s Pictures of the Week.
Indiana-based photographer Steven Shubert is inspired by abandoned industrial spaces. He’s also familiar with making wool something a little bit more exotic than we typically think about it. Spinning wool is traditionally used to create wool out of sheep fur and Shubert has transformed it into a stunning spectacle by setting it on fire and twirling it around to rain down red hot sparks. Add a camera into the mix and it makes for some visually stunning and dramatic photos that we really can’t get enough of.
He sees his biggest challenge in finding a good location he says, explaining, “Photographing this can quickly become repetitive and cliche if a good setting is not selected. I like to juxtapose the images of combustion with former industrial settings, which here in the Rustbelt, were once hellish furnaces of coal coke and steel production. The technique is really low tech; I take steel wool, must be 0 to 0000 grade fineness, and load it into a suet cage. This is a cage used to hold bird food or fat mixture, you can buy at any hardware store. This is attached to a steel cable at about arm’s length. The wool can be ignited by touching a 9-volt battery to it. Once it’s lit, start spinning and have someone press the shutter release.”
You could use these photos in a number of ways:
- as part of a piece highlighting industrial photographers and the different angles you can take with abandoned structures
- a photo slideshow about new uses for old tools (like spinning wool)
- perhaps on the dangers of fire? It looks cool but never do this at home?
- Or you could simply focus on highlighting the creativity of Shubert and bringing his work some much-deserved attention
Check out more photos from Shubert’s steel wool photo shoot back at Newscom.
Steel Wool Photography by photographer Steven Shubert. WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: wennoddpix057056
Steel Wool Photography by photographer Steven Shubert. WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: wennoddpix057048
Steel wool photography by photographer Steven Shubert. WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: wennoddpix057039
Steel Wool Photography by photographer Steven Shubert. WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: wennoddpix057040
Steel Wool Photography by photographer Steven Shubert. WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: wennoddpix057046
Steel Wool Photography by photographer Steven Shubert. WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: wennoddpix057049
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Tags: industrial, photography, steel wool, steven shubert