To most people, gun crime is what you see on television and read about in the press. And perhaps these images by Paul Smith are so fascinating, because it is so alien and yet so serious, with life changing results, and because details of a murder by a firearm are a mystery to all of us.
The “Impact” (as Paul has called this series) of such tiny objects traveling at such high velocity causes catastrophic damage.
The reveal therefore, is all the more shocking, that these beautiful, floral (and in some case jewell like) images are in fact photographs of bullets that have been gathered by police forensic teams in a variety of ways, including being extracted during autopsies of murder victims.
Paul photographed them at a very high resolution so that they become large than life.. .38 becomes 2 feet…. so that their detail, construction, damage and power becomes ever so apparent.
For such devastating objects to be turned into such beautiful subjects, is a real testament to Paul’s skill. Each one being so different from the other, yet all produced to do the same job.
If you think they look good here, you should see them as five foot square prints….
I love that he decided to produce this series. The imagination to do it is so typical of his talent.
He is a great photographer.