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Long-exposure Japanese fireworks photos show what happens when you hold on to a flash of beauty

Casey Baseel Aug 2, 2019
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Photographer stretches out the life of fireworks, shows the beauty of the stars and Mt. Fuji too.

Some people would argue that part of the beauty of fireworks comes from the way they exist only for a moment, like a fleeting moment of pure, vibrant joy. But what if there was some way to hold on to that moment for just a little longer?

You’d end up with a new, but no less compelling, type of beauty, the type seen in the photography of Yusaku Arai (@arai_yusaku on Twitter, yohar1114 on Instagram).

昨晩の隅田川花火大会。例年よりも風が強かったから、なんか現代アートみたいになった。 pic.twitter.com/1jU8VdXc4p

— 新井勇作 📷 Yusaku Arai (@arai_yusaku) July 28, 2019

Arai was at last Saturday’s Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival, Tokyo’s biggest fireworks display, watching from a spot where he also had a view of the 634-meter (2,080-foot) Skytree. With a typhoon just barely missing Tokyo that evening, the weather was dry but extra-windy, and the strong gusts, combined with some long-exposure photography, resulting in beautiful arcing lines of light which made the mid-air pyrotechnics in some of Arai’s photos look like ocean waves.

嬉しいことに1000fav(多分、初めて)頂きましたので追加のお写真3枚出させて下さい♪ ONE PHOTOの原田さん @yohar1114 が昨年見つけた場所で、今回ご一緒させていただきました♪ (Google Mapと睨めっこしながら探した場所に、原田さんが先に到着していました。笑) pic.twitter.com/SISx75XQtj

— 新井勇作 📷 Yusaku Arai (@arai_yusaku) July 28, 2019

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A post shared by Yoshiyuki Harada (@yohar1114)

This wasn’t Arai’s first time to capture stunning images of the Sumidagawa event, however. As a matter of fact, one motivation for this year’s excursion were these gorgeous shots he took last year, which he wanted to see if he could equal this time around.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yoshiyuki Harada (@yohar1114)

But Sumidagawa isn’t the only fireworks show in Japan, of course. Just about every community stages a display during the summer months, and Arai also had his camera in hand for festivals held on Odaiba island in Tokyo Bay…

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A post shared by Yoshiyuki Harada (@yohar1114)

…Yokohama, where the gigantic 112.5-meter Cosmo Clock Ferris wheel is a prime place watch from, if you can time your ride just right…

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A post shared by Yoshiyuki Harada (@yohar1114)

…and costal Kamakura, where an annual highlight is the large number of dome-shaped fireworks set off on the surface of the water.

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A post shared by Yoshiyuki Harada (@yohar1114)

While Arai has an undeniable knack for photographing fireworks, he’s also skilled at taking pictures of more natural lights in the sky.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yoshiyuki Harada (@yohar1114)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs2vi3XlXXc/

And then there are the photos in which Arai shows us that sometimes the overhead beauty is still just an outstretched hand away.

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A post shared by Yoshiyuki Harada (@yohar1114)

It’s all a reminder to keep looking up, and also to look forward to whatever amazing images Arai shares next.

Sources: Twittter/@arai_yusaku via IT Media
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