Deborah Bay's "The Big Bang" is a photo set like that of which you've never seen. In it are clusters of galaxies and space rock that even NASA can't capture. That's because the galaxies in Bay's photos aren't real — they're actually macro photos of bullets shot into plexiglass. Yowza!
Out of all the macro shots, who'd have thought that bullets — yes, those projectiles fired from a gun — would look like beautiful nebulae explosions?
Here's Bay's artist statement on "The Big Bang":
I began thinking about "The Big Bang" after seeing a sales display of bullet-proof plexiglas that had projectiles embedded in it. The plexiglas captured the fragmentation of the bullets and provided a visual record of the energy released on impact. As I began to explore this concept further, I also was intrigued by the psychological tension created between the jewel-like beauty and the inherent destructiveness of the fragmented projectiles. Many of the images resemble exploding galaxies, and visions of intergalactic bling sublimate the horror of bullets meeting muscle and bone. I
Professionals in law enforcement at the Public Safety Institute at Houston Community College fired the shots into the plexiglas used in the series. The photographic images were made in the studio -- well after the gunshots were fired.
Bay's stellar photo set is in the gallery below. Some of these are great enough to deserve wall space. I mean it. PHOTOS
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