Jul 11, 2014 6:30 AM

Gallery: Ordinary Landscapes Transformed With Bursts of Flying Paint

Floto+Warner
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Floto+Warner's *Colourant* series shows bursts of colored water erupting over stark landscapes.
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The series was shot in Iowa and northern Nevada, where Jeremy Floto is from.

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The husband and wife photography team were describe the sharply defined strokes of color as a "momentary graffiti of air and space."
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The exact cocktail of colors wasn't divulged, but the photographers say it's 98% water and totally non-toxic.

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The shooting process was simple enough: fill a 2 gallon bucket with the colored water, throw the contents in front of the camera, rinse off the ground and repeat.
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The photos were shot fast, at around a 3,200th of a second.

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Most of the images are shot when the water is still connected as a singular body, but some show it as it disintegrates in mid-air.
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Floto and Warner were interested in capturing a sculptural effect, in which the mass of water seems to be a part of and interact with its environment.

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The opacity of the coloring gives a greater sense of mass to the thin veils of water.
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The photographers sought the most harsh, direct sunlight they could find to get the maximum amount of definition on the water.

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Part of the appeal of the photos is how they create singular objects out of the chaotic movement of falling water. “When you throw the liquid, you don’t see it, you just throw it up in the air, and the camera is going ‘click click click,'" says Floto. "Then when you look at the back of your camera it’s this kind of ‘oh wow’ moment.”
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Floto and Warner each find different aspects of the photos interesting. This is one of Warner's favorites, suggesting the form of a horse.

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This is Floto's favorite photo from the series, largely for how effectively the mass of water violates the landscape behind it.

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