The fleeting joy of the soap bubble so fascinated one photographer that he set about capturing the short-lived spectacle on film.

Inspired by childhood memories of blowing bubbles, Fabian Oefner, an art photographer from Zurich, made it his mission to turn the brief existence of soapy bubbles into a series of enduring photographs.

While the results of his efforts are beautiful enough – the incredible photo series, entitled Iridient, sees the bubbles transformed into otherworldly objects – the project was certainly not without its challenges, explains Oefner.

"With this series of images, I was trying to capture the beauty of these short-lived sculptures, which consist of 99% air and actually do not have any colour at all," said Oefner.

"There are two major challenges, when taking images of bursting soap bubbles," he continued. "One is how to light the bubble, so that its colours become visible and second is obviously to capture the right moment.”

"To make [the iridescence] reflection effects, that create the colours, visible, I had to place lights around the bubbles from all different sides. The reflection of the illuminated panels around the bubble are then reflected on the surface of the bubble, creating the colours," explained Oefner.

"The second challenge was capturing the right moment. For that, you simply need high speed flashes and a LOT of patience.”

Well, we would definitely say it was worth all the effort.

Image credit: Fabian Oefner/Rex Features