Real warheads photographed up-close by Justin Fantl

It was hard to go through Justin Fantl’s portfolio and hone in on just one project: his enormous selection of intriguing photographic series is vast enough to get lost in for at least an hour or two. Be it the wild, weird attractions of Vegas, the Mars-like landscape of Death Valley, fluffy dogs, dinosaur bones, Iceland, crowds, mini golf – you name it, Justin’s got a great collection of pictures of it.

When perusing, one project caught my eye – one that I thought was close-up shots of the ends of ink pens. These spikes turned out to be something much more sinister: they were the tips of enormous warheads. “This ongoing project was in part a reaction to how war is portrayed in the media,” Justin says. “I feel very removed from the atrocities that are ongoing worldwide. I think that previous generations were more conscious of how war affects society on a personal and more general social level, and we are so far from it. Part of the impetus to work on this project is to gain an understanding of what war actually is or what things make war.”

Justin first had the idea of photographing warheads when driving past an airforce base to visit his girlfriend’s parents. “I noticed an installation off the highway of old jets and missiles. We spent a long time just wandering through this little military park. It felt surreal that these weapons which all have the potential to create mass death and destruction were just kind of placed on the side of the road and surrounded by little fences. One family was picnicking at tables near the installation. Quite strange. In photographing these missiles my idea was to kind of reduce the thing to graphic shape, removing it from the intended context and purpose.”