The plexiglass in these photographs wasn’t shot just once, but twice—the first time with an AK-47 by law enforcement professionals at the Public Safety Institute at Houston Community College, the second time by fine art photographer Deborah Bay.Bay’s series The Big Bang explores the incredible abstract forms created in bullet-proof plexiglass after being assaulted with firearms. Some of the images used gels or colored lights to alter the appearance of the glass, while others are captured in their natural form.Bay writes about the project: “The plexiglass 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.”
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