Tornado / Ryan Hopkinson

Tornadoes have always fascinated me and this got me thinking about ways of taking weather elements out of context and bringing them within a controlled environment and ultimately into my own work. I created these artificial tornadoes for real and in collaboration with Lightning+Kinglyface. It was at first a game of trial and error, delicately balancing the right artificial environment with the correct amount of rising smoke. Any slight wind changes in the studio or on the surface would knock the vortex and stop it from forming. We managed to create twenty tornadoes, each around 4ft in height all with their own personalities and weight. The delicate nature of our creations was a big juxtaposition in many ways between natures own, but being able to create one and see it up close, regardless of its size and power was mesmerizing.

By photographer Ryan Hopkinson.