Photographer Makes Lens Out of 10,000 Year-Old Ice, Takes Gorgeous Photos

In the world of photography, often nothing is more important than the quality of the lens. But what about its age?

Mathieu Stern, a French photographer, decided to create his own unique equipment, making a working ice lens out of a 10,000-year-old iceberg.

As the photographer notes in the video description, creating a working ice lens is quite the achievement, as the makers must move fast while enduring unforgiving low temperatures.

“First of all the lifespan of a lens made of ice is very short, so you can’t move very far from where you create the lens. Focusing is extremely hard because of the water melting on the lens itself. Shaping one ” lens” takes 45 min because of the ambiant cold. If your lens breaks in the mold, you have to start all over again I hacked a Japanese cocktail ice ball maker to create half spheres. The housing of the lens was made using a home made 3D print model. All photos were shot during the 1 minute of the last ice lens. The video at the beginning of the video was shot in the last usable seconds of the last ice lens.”

If you watch the video and look through all of the photos which, despite being blurry, present a unique atmosphere, you can see why Mathieu Stern went to all of this trouble.

After all, this ephemeral lens is made out of a 10,000-year old material.