Mark Weller Timestacking Photography

Mark Weller is a lens-based artist from Waunakee, WI whose award-winning work has been exhibited in more than 200 art museums and galleries across North America and Europe.

In his series “Fireworks to Flowers”, Weller transforms the explosive spectacle of fireworks into delicate, blooming forms. Using long exposure techniques and a mid-burst shift of his camera’s focal ring—from blur to clarity—he reimagines these loud, patriotic bursts as soft, luminous blossoms.

“I loved fireworks as a kid,” Weller says. “But now even they feel politically charged. In a nation as divided as ours, I’m trying to take the edge off - offering something gentler, something beautiful. Maybe even something our leaders could learn from.”

The result is not only an optical metamorphosis, but a quiet meditation - an attempt to soothe the national psyche through art that softens rather than shouts.