It was New Year's Eve, and I was at Piazza Venezia in Rome to see the fireworks and photograph the people. After the celebrations, I was walking back to my apartment, wondering if I had taken any good pictures, when I noticed some firework carton boxes left smoking on the sidewalk. I had the feeling that they might catch fire, so I decided to wait and see what would happen. After a few minutes, everything was in flames. I found the situation absurd — I was in the center of one of the most popular cities, and someone had left their garbage catch flames.
I was thinking about the best way to capture this absurdity when a person from the bar across the street approached the fire. I couldn't figure out if he was trying to extinguish it or just pile everything together so it would burn faster, but it looked like he was standing inside the fire. I immediately knew that this could make a great photo, so I positioned myself in the right spot and started shooting.
While editing, I was searching for the right color combination, but the teal-orange look just didn’t have the impact I was looking for, even though it separated the subject from the background. That’s when I started playing around with the "Curves" menu, and I just fell in love with that strong red/orange. It definitely made the image pop. Thanks to the fog in the atmosphere, it almost looks like the whole city is on fire, which amplifies the subject matter and underlines the absurdity of the situation. What's more, the dark road creates a nice guiding line to the silhouette of a couple walking, unbothered by what's happening around them — which is part of the issue: the negligence of people can lead to total chaos.
All in all, I’m extremely happy with how the photo turned out. It was without a doubt the best shot of the evening — that’s a New Year's Eve I’ll never forget.