(Never) Lasting

How do you recreate steam? Is it even possible?

Stylist Victoria Lees
Photography Mitch Payne

Steam is water in the gas phase, which is formed when water boils or evaporates. Steam is technically invisible, but its remnants remain seen. Mist, water droplets, perspiration, these are elements all caused by steam.

Found in many different areas – agricultural, domestic, mechanical and energy – the recreation of this steam is done in a studio.

Using minimal props but capitalising on light and glass, we recreated steam outside its natural domestic habitat.

Admire its various formations and iterations: from smoke, to perspiration and droplets. How do we see steam, and how do we capture it?

It’s only visible for a mere moment and each picture is a one-take shot.