At first glance, this could almost be two lions rearing against the night sky, their manes rendered in molten gold. Look closer, though, and what Chinese photographer Ziqiang Luo has actually captured is something rooted deep in folk tradition: a fire-based performance art still performed at festivals and celebrations across the country, in which sparks, flame, and molten metal are transformed into fleeting, sculptural forms.
Luo's photograph captures the essence of what makes these performances so photogenic: the sparks and flame briefly hold a shape, almost animal-like in this instance, before dissolving into the dark.
The image earned him an Honorable Mention in the Life Style category of the 2026 iPhone Photography Awards, now in its 19th year as one of the longest-running smartphone photography competitions in the world.
Technical approach
Luo shot the image at 15.66mm physical focal length, equivalent to roughly 223mm in full-frame terms, using the iPhone 16 Pro's telephoto system. That last figure tells you a lot.
After all, the phone's native optical telephoto tops out at 120mm equivalent (5x zoom). So reaching 223mm equivalent means Luo was almost certainly using its digital zoom to extend beyond the optical range, cropping into the telephoto lens's output.
For a fire performance, keeping a safe distance from the sparks and flame while still framing tightly makes that extended reach essential rather than optional.
The rest of the settings – 1/200sec at f/2.8, and ISO 50 – are well suited to a bright, high-contrast night scene.
The moderately fast shutter speed was enough to freeze individual sparks in motion, giving the fine, granular texture visible throughout the image, while the very low ISO of 50 kept the image clean and avoided noise that would have been magnified by the extended digital zoom.
Against a totally black background, the camera's exposure could concentrate entirely on the fire itself, letting the sparks blow out into pure, saturated orange without needing to compromise for any darker areas of the frame.
Why it works
Ultimately, the image's power comes from the ambiguity between form and material. Rendered almost entirely in black and burning orange, the flying sparks coalesce into two distinct, animal-like silhouettes that face one another symmetrically, a shape the eye wants to read as living creatures, even while the texture of every surface confirms they're made of fire and ash.
That tension between recognisable form and pure combustion is what elevates this from a documentary shot of a folk performance into something closer to abstract art.
The symmetry does real compositional work here too. By capturing two roughly mirrored plumes of sparks facing each other, Luo transforms a fleeting, chaotic burst of fire into something that reads as deliberate and almost ceremonial, fitting for an art form so closely tied to celebration and ritual.
The big picture
This year's IPPAWARDS drew thousands of entries from more than 140 countries, with winners selected across 12 categories including Abstract, Animals, City Life, and the Life Style category in which Luo's image was recognised.
The overall Grand Prix, Photographer of the Year, went to Robyn Jensen of the Cayman Islands for a nature image shot on iPhone 15 Pro, while Gellert Gombai of Hungary took the Gold Award for an intimate candid portrait.
Overall, Luo's photograph is a striking example of documentary and abstract photography meeting in one frame. A smartphone pushed to the limits of its digital zoom, capturing a centuries-old fire tradition at the precise instant sparks form a shape that feels wonderfully alive.
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