Intentional Camera Movement (ICM)

by Editor Colin Dixon
Edited and published by Yvette Depaepe, the 6^th of Februay 2026

‘Autumn symphony’ by Fiorenzo Carozzi

The early life of intentional camera movement as an artistic device is not clear but it is now a mainstream technique in creative photography. However, it is still very much a type of photography that people love or hate.

One of the earliest advocates of ICM was Ernst Haas in the 1950’s.
Haas saw the potential of a slow shutter speed paired with movement of the subjects to produce images with bursts of colour.

Of course, we can just look at the great artists of 1X and their use of ICM to see this is now a well-practiced, artistic form of photography.

There are many ways to create ICM these days, but they all still need the photographer to use the basic principles of photography:
* Subject selection. Elements of colour and/or tone, texture, space, balance, form, abstraction, shape, detail, and uniqueness are all additional considerations that contribute to the success of an ICM image as a whole.
* Composition
* Exposure
* Focus

There are many ways of doing ICM, the most popular being:
* Camera movement during a slow exposure time by sweeping, rotating or shaking. To achieve the long exposure in daylight conditions it may require a neutral density filter. The exposure time or duration is another part of the creativity in the image but would require 1/15^th sec or longer.
* Zooming the lens during the exposure.
* Multiple high-speed shooting while moving the camera, then combining these images in software. Alternatively, by using the in-camera multiple exposure modes now found in many cameras.
* Now we have the creative tools on a computer to create Movement pictures not in camera but in post production.

What Makes a Successful ICM Photograph?

The objective in making an ICM photograph is to create a unique artistic rendering of a subject or scene through the movements of the camera over an extended exposure by a photographer. Intentional Camera Movement is made up of unending variables - so as in all forms of photography, an ICM image can be evaluated by a broad range of successes.

Ultimately, as with most photography, it is up to the individual photographer or viewer to evaluate the success of an ICM photograph for themselves.

But in general terms, ICM photographers seek out an acceptable exposure blended with the motion blur of a subject or environment, creating a new visual perspective. Colour and/or tone, texture, space, balance, form, abstraction, shape, detail, and uniqueness are all additional considerations that contribute to the success of an ICM image as a whole.

There is, as with all genres of photography, a new element and an ever-expanding form of ICM which is using more and more creation via software but in the end, this still produces the artistic effect started many years ago by the pioneers of the genre.

We are blessed on 1x with some wonderful creative photographers in the ICM field and here is some of their work.