This past October I participated in the portfolio review at the PDN PhotoPlus Expo in New York. Over the course of two days, I met individually with 17 photographers and saw a range of work covering adventure and travel, fine art, documentary photography, and more, all in less than 48 hours.

Kevin Kunstadt’s work stood out to me in particular. He showed pictures from a personal project on the Iowa Thunderstorm—a small fireworks convention in Mason City, Iowa. I was drawn to the cinematic quality of his images and how he captured both the eye-grabbing pyrotechnic spectacles and the more subtle moments illustrating the curious characters of the convention-goers themselves.

I asked Kevin a few questions about his project for