It's no secret that parkour is rich with movement -- but we've never seen the sport's potential for poetry, precision and power like this before.
In "Parkour In Motion," photographer Ben Franke captures the action of the sport in an unprecedented way.Although Franke has been shooting the parkour scene in New York since 2008, he wanted to address a specific challenge in this series: conveying authentic movement in a 2D photograph.
In an email to The Huffington Post, Franke explained that he met this challenge by using an unlikely substance: flour.
"My goal in shooting 'Parkour Motion' was to capture and display the energy and power of these athletes," he said. "One of the ways I worked to demonstrate this was by covering the athletes in flour, and as they moved, the flour illustrated the path of their motion."
However, as expected, this particular technique did not come without difficulties.
"Determining the right timing was one of the greatest challenges in this series," Franke said. "Also, I needed to consider that some parkour moves are impressive in person, but don’t translate well to a compelling image."
But, for Franke and his subjects, the rewards outweighed the challenges.
"The most rewarding part of this series has been the reaction from the athletes themselves," he said. "I felt we were all equally excited about this project from start to finish."
And they should be -- the photos are stunning. And there may be more coming soon.
"For future shoots, I will be expanding on ways in which to further capture the movement and inspiration of parkour," Franke said. "I enjoy collaborating with the athletes, and hope to build upon this project."
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