Photography Culture

Here’s What Happens When You Ignite Gunpowder on Printed Photos

Chris Gampat
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11/16/2017
2 Mins read
Nicholas Coleman Portrait

Last Updated on 11/16/2017 by Chris Gampat

All images by Dewey Keithly. Used with permission.

Photographer Dewey Keithly has been a fan of old photographic processes for a really long time, and he’s also always been very experimental with his work. His latest project was a combination of things including a super interesting and creative idea. For his latest project he took color print images and set them ablaze with gunpowder to give off a really unique look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyD1dp8odYo

“I wanted to bring color back in a way that showed the old transforming into the new,” explains Dewey to us in an email. “I decided, the best way was to layer the black and white over the color print. I then used multiple gun powders with different burning rates on the seams.” He continued to explain that the different gun powders is what creates the different textures and colors in the burns. Of course, this meant that in order to not totally destroy the images he needed to get the right amount of gunpowder, put it in the right places, etc. They needed the burned look. Putting the burns in just the right spot is tough but you also want to ensure it doesn’t look too doctored as well.

“It would show the color burning through the black and white images to symbolize the transition from old to new. There is also something to be said about using gunpowder to create the images for a company that makes firearms products.”

Dewey did the project for SilencerCo., his employer. They needed images for the booth, catalog and cover shot. For Dewey, all the previous images were purposely done in black and white to represent “oppressed” people as he states. “With the new 2017 catalog, they wanted to bring color back with the release of a new product that was in theory, supposed to change the suppressor industry through innovation.”

When you think about it this way, it seems like Dewey really got the project right with his creative intentions. I’d surely pay money to see this technique used on printed images in a gallery of some sort.

campaign Dewey Keithly gunpowder images photographs photos silencerco
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.