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Fire performances draw photographers like, well, moths to a flame. I am one of those moths. I love shooting fire spinners and dancers for the beauty, drama, thrill and technical challenge. But unlike many photographers, I take poetic license with my images rather than present them as documentary photographs. Like many viewers, when I watch a fire performance I become transfixed, almost to the point of trance. Distractions fade from view and the images I see are colored by my awe and amazement. Sharp edges are smoothed and even distorted, and one image flows to the next with a dreamlike quality. This is the way I see fire performances.
When I photograph fire performances I try to get the very best and most accurate captures that I can. But my camera does not see the performance the way I do. It does not slip into that trance. It can only see it objectively. So while I shoot for accuracy, I edit to transform the camera’s objective image to something more like what I saw subjectively. I happily delete or minimize distractions such as safety pylons, random on-lookers and specular reflections–I would not have seen them when I was watching the show. And I unashamedly add color washes and textures to recreate the dreamlike trance that colored and textured my perception. Other than to adjust exposure and contrast, I do not alter the fire itself, but everything else is fair game. I try to present images that portray the way I see fire performances, rather than the way my camera does.
On Saturday, 24-September-2022, Quintessence wowed a transfixed audience at Art All Night DC Shaw. I could tell by the number of dropped jaws that were fixed throughout the performance that, like myself, many were viewing the show from a dreamlike trance that the performers quickly brought us to.
Here is how I saw it.
The performers of Quintessence:
Jasmine and Riki also perform together as Umber and Ember – @umberandemberfire
