Workers polish a snow sculpture ahead of the 16th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, December 22, 2014. The 16th Harbin Ice and Snow World will be officially opened on January 5, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Anglers cast lines through holes into a frozen river during an ice fishing competition at the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival on January 7, 2012 in Hwacheon-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

A boy catches a trout while ice fishing on a frozen river during a fishing contest in Hwacheon, South Korea, Saturday, January 14, 2017. The contest is part of an annual ice festival which draws over 1,000,000 visitors every year. (Photo by /Ahn Young-joon/AP Phot)

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 man reacts after catching a trout with his hands during an event promoting the Ice Festival on a frozen river in Hwacheon, about 20 km (12 miles) south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, January 10, 2015. The annual ice festival, which is one of the most famous and biggest festivals in South Korea, expects to see more than 1,000,000 people attend. The festival lasts for three weeks from January 10 this year. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

Scarlett points at the huge ice sculpture of a bear during a Photocall for Magical Ice Kingdom at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park on November 17, 2016 in London, England. It is the event's 10th anniversary this year. (Photo by Ben Perry/Getty Images)

A swimmer reacts after finishing his competition in a pool carved into thick ice covering the Songhua River during the Harbin Ice Swimming Competition in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province January 5, 2015. The swimming competition was held on the official launch day of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

A photographer has discovered a spectacular way of keeping warm during winter – using fire to heat up icy locations. Sam Scholes uses long-exposures to capture the movement of fire in front of ice-covered backdrops. After lighting steel wool his friend Scott Stringham swings the flaming object in order to make swirling patterns. The result of this technique – captured at Midway Ice Castles in Utah is a vibrant image with the warm light dancing across the cold scenes. (Photo by Sam Scholes/Caters News)