Artistic Ammo Cross-Sections

Fine art photographer Sabine Pearlman was inspired to create the photo series "AMMO" as a way to confront her negative experiences with firearms. A native to Austria, the traumas of World War Two still lingered in her society and gave her a distinctly pessimistic perspective on weapons and warfare from an early age. She was also held at gunpoint in her early twenties, which furthered this view. But after moving to the United States, she found a very different, and very positive, weapons culture.

"AMMO" was created as a catharsis for Pearlman; a way to approach the subject matter of weapons in a positive and fascinating way. She began the project by traveling to a World War Two bunker owned by a Swiss munitions expert and collector. He had on display both old and modern cartridges that were cut in half to display their contents and construction.The photos in Pearlman's collection have been described as "clinical" and (somewhat ironically) "disarming" due to their beauty. They are at once a cold dissection of parts and an abstract assembly of shapes and colors. Pearlman shares her own intent behind the photos on her website:"These full, unflinching photos show the tender yet explosive and violent insides of these objects. Pearlman suggests with these portraits, that as humans we live our interior lives encased in protective armor, and that we too hold both the possibility of killer and protector."[gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="https://www.americangrit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/10.jpg|,https://www.americangrit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/05.jpg|"][gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="https://www.americangrit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/07.jpg|,https://www.americangrit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/01-1.jpg|"]Pearlman purposefully did not include any information about the bullets themselves, as her intent was to display the photos just as they were, without context. Her work proves that bullets can be beautiful. Tactical can also mean tasteful. And, ultimately, our perspective on weapons and firearms is what gives them the power to protect or destroy.You can see the full gallery from "AMMO" and more of Pearlman's work here.