The Wizard of Awe is a photographic book by Kevin Cooley about Ken Miller, a pyrotechnicist often referred to online as “the smoke guru.” Miller’s expertise in manufacturing smoke generators for air shows and other industries made him respected, but his life has been marked by both brilliance and misfortune. A tragic accident killed his business partner and best friend, Howard Snelson, and left Miller with severe burns. He turned to painkillers to cope with physical pain and guilt. Despite these tragedies, his passion for pyrotechnics never waned, and his property in southern Minnesota became a testing ground for eccentric experiments, with burn scars and explosion craters dotting the landscape.

Guided by Miller’s knowledge, Cooley (US) created three photographic series—Controlled Burns, Gathering Clouds, and Exploded Views—and extensively documented his visits to the rural farm, offering a surreal glimpse into Miller’s pyrotechnic world. The story was eventually published as a photo essay in Popular Science entitled “The Wizard of Awe.” But the publicity proved to be Miller’s undoing: the article attracted the attention of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), leading to an investigation that revealed his continued involvement in creating smoke devices—a violation of federal law due to previous convictions for manufacturing illegal explosives and possession of a firearm. He expressed deep responsibility and remorse, acknowledging his failures and the consequences of his actions. In the end, Miller was arrested and sentenced to nearly two years in federal prison, and faces a future without pyrotechnics. Yet he doesn’t blame Cooley, insisting that Cooley saved his life by steering him away from a path of “bad choices.” The Wizard of Awe is an ode to Ken Miller—a powerful testament to his life’s work as a pyrotechnicist and his subsequent redemption.

Ken Miller and Kevin Cooley both contribute texts to the book. Carel Fransen is responsible for design, Marc Gijzen for lithography, and Albe de Coker in Belgium for printing. The English edition is 144 pages in a flexible hardcover, measuring 220 × 320 mm, with a first edition of 1,500 copies. The work stands as a considered record of an unusual collaboration and of a friendship tested by publicity, law, and loss.