Michael Massaia's photographs are as nostalgic as they are disturbing. His long-exposure images capture a subject matter familiar to most. From a SpongeBob SquarePants popsicle to a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich, he frames the frozen treats most people's summer memories are made of. Yet, Massaia doesn't just realistically render his ice cream. He distorts the childhood favorites by melting them before his lens, until the pops resemble ominous pools of paint or celestial snapshots.

A worker manually changes the direction of the bonde, the typical tram line in Santa Teresa neighborhood, using a rope in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 9, 2015. The Santa Teresa bonde, called “Bondinho” in Portuguese, is running with passengers as a part of a test period, after the service was suspended in 2011 following an accident that killed six people, according to residents. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

Cows belonging to Samburu tribesmen walk around the carcass of an elephant killed by armed cattle herders in Mugui Conservancy, Kenya February 11, 2017. Kenya has declared the ongoing drought affecting many parts of the country a national disaster, calling for aid to counter the situation which is posing a major risk to people, livestock and wildlife. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

A Taliban helicopter takes off after bringing aid to the site of an earthquake in Gayan, Afghanistan on June 23, 2022. A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring 1,500 more in one of the country's deadliest quakes in decades, the state-run news agency reported. (Photo by Ali Khara/Reuters)

Miss Earth 2016 candidates wearing environmental statement sashes lineup during a press presentation in Manila, Philippines, 11 October 2016. Eighty three young women from around the globe converged in Manila for the international beauty event. Miss Earth is a pioneering beauty pageant that serves as a vehicle for environmental advocacy. (Photo by Mark R. Cristino/EPA)

Filipino beauty candidates hide from the sun before a group photo during the media presentation of the Miss Philippines Earth 2017 held at a hotel in Manila, Philippines, 05 July 2017. A total of 40 environmentally aware and concerned Filipino young ladies will compete to represent the Philippines at the Miss Earth beauty pageant. Miss Earth is a pioneering beauty pageant that serves as a vehicle for environmental advocacy. (Photo by Mark R. Cristino/EPA)

An Asian elephant cools off at the zoo during the World Elephant Day in Lodz, central Poland, 12 August 2022. The World Elephant Day is observed every year on August 12. (Photo by Grzegorz Michalowski/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A visitor stands in the exhibition “I Am A Drop In The Ocean” dedicated to the artistic and visual expressions of the protests that shook the Ukraine from November 2013 until February 2014 at the Kuenstlerhaus gallery in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, April 10, 2014. The exhibition opens its doors from April 11 until May 23, 2014. (Photo by Ronald Zak/AP Photo)