Fireworks streak past in front of the supermoon outside the town of Mosta, celebrating the feast of its patron saint, in central Malta, Aug.10, 2014.Darrin Zammit Lupi
—The advent of the 35mm Leica compact camera, almost 90 years ago, gave photographers mobility — freeing them from the limitations of larger format cameras. In the hands of photographers such Robert Frank, the 35mm camera literally blurred the lines of what a great photograph could be. Robert Capa’s emotive, raw and Slightly Out of Focus images of war held a potency and conveyed an urgency.
For others, such as Alexi Brodovitch, it resulted in images that imbued a visual poetry through motion, with a propensity for painterly photographic expression.
In today’s ever accelerating culture—and proliferation of homogenized imagery—news photographers are increasingly utilizing slow shutter speeds, pushing the limits in low-light conditions and emulating the early days of the small format camera to find a more distinctive, creative, fitting and abstract aesthetic to document our world in constant motion.
From sporting events including last year’s Winter Olympics Games and the FIFA World Cup, where speed was inherent, came the somewhat expected abundance of blurred and motion images.
Elsewhere Stuart Palley’s beautiful painterly and poetic long exposure photographs of wildfires gave us a new and refreshing perspective on a much documented subject, while Bulent Kilic captured the raw emotion and desperation in the immediate aftermath of a Turkish mining disaster through blurred images. Kilic is just one among many other news photographers that chose to apply such abstract aesthetics to document the speed and energy of life moving before them.
Here TIME presents a selection of photographs—from the Ferguson protests and the withdrawal from Afghanistan, to fireworks streaking past the super Moon and lightning striking One World Trade Center—that capture our world in motion.
Phil Bicker is a Senior Photo Editor at TIME
In this photo taken with a long exposure, protesters march in the street as lightning flashes in the distance in Ferguson, Mo., Aug. 20, 2014.Jeff Roberson—APThe El Portal Fire burns on a hillside in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park on Sunday evening July 27, 2014. Stuart PalleyOn the eve of the end of U.K. operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, the Royal Artillery 105mm light gun crew fire out and over the perimeter of Camp Bastion on their last fire mission to deter Taliban around the base, Oct. 25, 2014. Ben Birchall—PA/LandovFilipino firemen use water cannon to extinguish a fire in a residential slum area in Quezon City, east of Manila, Philippines, May 6, 2014. TRitchie B. Tongo—EPAA Turkish couple shares a romantic sunset on a ferry on the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 17, 2014.Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty ImagesA meteor crosses the Milky Way on the Ari Atoll, Maldives, on the night of Aug. 17, 2014. Sergey Dolzheko—EPAThe David Hayes trained Spillway enjoys a roll in the sand after a trackwork session at Flemington Racecourse on Aug. 14, 2014Vince Caligiuri—Getty ImagesThis long exposure picture shows apartment buildings and office blocks clustered together in Hong Kong's Kowloon district on Feb. 3, 2014. Alex Ogle—AFP/Getty ImagesDaniel Purvis of Scotland competes in the Men's Team Final & Individual Qualification at SECC Precinct during day five of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games on July 28, 2014 in Glasgow, United Kingdom.Hannah Peters—Getty ImagesUltra-Orthodox Jews dance as they gather for a mass prayer in protest to the government's army conscription laws in Jerusalem, March 2, 2014. Abir Sultan—EPAFireworks streak past in front of the supermoon outside the town of Mosta, celebrating the feast of its patron saint, in central Malta, Aug.10, 2014. Darrin Zammit LupiKUTA, BALI - OCTOBER 19: Participants fight during fire war ceremony at Dalem Temple on October 19, 2013 in Tuban, Kuta, Indonesia. The annual ceremony, known locally as Siat Geni, is held to ward off bad luck and bring courage. (Photo by Putu Sayoga/Getty Images)Putu Sayoga—Getty ImagesPeople release balloons to celebrate the New Year during the annual countdown ceremony by the Prince Park Tower Tokyo on January 1, 2014. Kazuhiro Nogi—AFP/Getty ImagesPeople ride on a swing at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, Wisconsin, August 9, 2014. The fair started over 150 years ago and mixes agricultural exhibits with amusements rides. Jim Young—ReutersTai Qing Tong of Malaysia competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on August 26, 2014 in Nanjing, China. Feng Li—Getty ImagesSwans are gathered at city hall lock on the Alster Lake at City Hall in Hamburg, Germany, November 18, 2014. The Alster swans will spend the winter in the Eppendorf Muehlenteich pond. Christian Charisius—EPANepalese Hindus take bath in the Bagmati River, holy to them, during Madhav Narayan festival in Katmandu, Nepal, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014. Niranjan Shrestha—APCompetitors in the open race over the Olympic distance in the World Triathlon London, the fourth event in the 2014 ITU World Triathlon Series, swim through the Serpentine in Hyde Park, London on June 1, 2014. Justin Tallis—AFP/Getty ImagesEgyptians wave national flags as they celebrate in Cairo's Tahrir Square on June 3, 2014 after ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won 96.9 percent of votes in Egypt's presidential election. Mohamed El-Shahed—AFP/Getty ImagesBallerinas dance during the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games at Fisht Olympic Stadium on March 7, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Dennis Grombkowski—Getty ImagesIn preparation for the 150th anniversary of the first ascent of the Materhorn, Swiss mountain sports specialist Mammut and mountain guides from the village of Zermatt transformed the spectacular summit into a shining stone icon as an anniversary gift to Zermatt on Sept. 16, 2014.Robert Boesch—AP ImagesIn this Sept. 3, 2014, picture made with a long exposure, lights from evening rush hour traffic move over the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Marcio Jose Sanchez—APTrails of headlamps are seen in the night as runners make their way to the finish line during the XVII 101km competition on a mountain on the outskirts of Montejaque, near Ronda, southern Spain early May 11, 2014. Jon Nazca—ReutersThe motorcade carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin speeds up along a highway in downtown Moscow, Russia, Dec. 19, 2014. Pavel Golovkin—APRockets fly over the bell towel of Panagia Erithiani church, during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, late Saturday, April 19, 2014. Petros Giannakouris—APArgentina's forward and captain Lionel Messi (C) vies for the ball during a quarter-final football match between Argentina and Belgium at the Mane Garrincha National Stadium in Brasilia during the 2014 FIFA World Cup on July 5, 2014.Adrian Dennis—AFP/Getty ImagesFelipe Massa of Brazil and Williams drives during practice ahead of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sept.19, 2014 in Singapore.Mark Thompson—Getty ImagesThe pack races in the track cycling women's omnium 25km point race at the Incheon International Velodrome during the 17th Asian Games Sept. 25, 2014. Kim Hong-Ji—ReutersIn this March 21, 2014 photo, two stunt riders race around the arena on a horse, between rodeo competitions, part of the 17th Boyeros Cattlemen's International Fair in Havana, Cuba.Ramon Espinosa—APPope Francis waves as he leads his weekly audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 8, 2014. Max Rossi—ReutersSpanish bullfighter Uceda Leal performs with a Fuente Ymbro's ranch fighting bull during a bullfight of the San Isidro fair in Madrid, Spain, May 27, 2014. Daniel Ochoa de Olza—APTourists holding umbrellas crowd visit the stone sculptures at the Baoding Mountain on the third day of the seven-day national day holiday, in Chongqing municipality, Oct. 3, 2014. China Stringer Network—ReutersBritish troops are pictured leaving Camp Bastion for the final time in the back of a RAF Hercules transporter aircraft.
Final UK Troops Leave Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Oct 27, 2014
Corporal Andrew Morris/M/REX USASwimmers dive in during the Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on July 26, 2014. Andrej Isakovic—AFP/Getty Imagesepaselect epa04437807 Mount Sinabung spews hot lava and volcanic ash as it is seen from Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Oct. 9, 2014. Dedy Sahputra—EPAMikaela Shiffrin of the United States competes during the 1st leg of the FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Slalom, on Jan. 5, 2014 in Bormio.Olivier Morin—AFP/Getty ImagesA performer dances during the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games at the Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi, Russia, Feb. 23, 2014. Hannibal Hanschke—EPAA general view of Loy Yang of Power Station in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia, 15 July 15, 2014. David Crosling—EPAA woman with an umbrella crosses a street in Hanover, Germany, Aug. 4, 2014. Photographed through the rain-wet window of a car. Ole Spata—EPAVolunteers walk in the Fuente de Piedra lake, 70 kilometres from Malaga, on July 19, 2014, during a tagging and control operation of flamingo chicks to monitor the evolution of the species. Jorge Guerrero—AFP/Getty ImagesAustralia's David Morris performs a jump during a practice session before the men's freestyle skiing aerials finals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Rosa Khutor Feb. 17, 2014. Dylan Martinez—REUTERSJapan's Minami Itahashi, right, and Fuka Tatsumi compete during the women's synchronised 10m platform diving final at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Sept. 30, 2014. Kin Cheung—APDancers perform during the opening of the 24th International Ballet Festival at the 'Karl Marx' theater in Havana, Cuba, Oct. 28, 2014. Ramon Espinosa—APDavid Dinsmore of the US competes during the men's 10 metre semi-final platform event at the 19th FINA Diving World Cup in Shanghai on July 20, 2014.Johannes Eisele—AFP/Getty ImagesJapan's Reruhi Shimizu soars through the air during his trial jump in the men's ski jumping individual normal hill qualification round event at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games Feb. 8, 2014. Kai Pfaffenbach—Reuters—REUTERSTwo bolts of lightning hit the antenna on top of One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan as an electrical storm moves over New York, May 23, 2014.Gary Hershorn—CorbisUkrainian protesters shoot with a help of petards amongst burning automobile tires during a mass action of opposition on Grushevsky street against laws recently accepted by the Verkhovna Rada that toughen requirements to carrying out mass meetings and restrict journalists activity, on Jan. 22, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine. Kommersant Photo—Getty ImagesA man kisses his son, rescued of the mine, on May 13, 2014 after an explosion in a coal mine in Manisa. At least 157 miners were killed in collapsed coal mine in the western Turkish city of Manisa. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty ImagesThe Soyuz TMA-15 M blast off from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, early 24 Nov. 24, 2014, carrying members of the mission. Maxim Shipenko —EPAA long exposure shows smolderings remains of overnight fires on the hillsides of San Marcos, San Diego county, California, USA, early May 16, 2014. Stuart Palley—EPA
