Levon Biss is a British artist widely regarded as one of the leading macro photographers of his generation. His photography has been exhibited around the globe and is held in numerous public and private collections. Primarily using a bespoke camera system designed for extreme macro photography, Levon’s work focuses on natural history. His images present an unseen world to a wider audience, helping people enjoy and appreciate elements of nature that are normally invisible to the naked eye. He has worked with museum collections in the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. and his previous project Microsculpture has received solo shows in over 20 countries. Levon’s TED talks on his photographic techniques and projects have been viewed by millions and his images are widely used in schools for engaging the next generation with nature, science and art.
‘Microsculpture’
The photographs of Levon Biss cast specimens from the Museum of Natural History’s entomology collection quite literally in a new light. Their scale and resolution not only reveal the unexpected and often breathtaking beauty of insects, but also make clear the many intricate evolutionary adaptations to their form – what entomologists call microsculpture.
Shapes and colours come in abundant variety, but it takes the power of an optical microscope or camera lens to experience insects at their own scale: ridges, pits or engraved meshes combine with exquisite complexity.
Levon Biss’ photographic process composites thousands of images, using multiple lighting setups, to create a final portrait which reveals this microsculpture. It is thought that these structures alter the properties of the insect’s surface in different ways, reflecting sunlight, shedding water, sensing food sources or trapping air.
Also visible are minute hairs that are adapted for many purposes, such as gripping smooth surfaces, carrying pollen, or detecting movement. These hairs are sometimes modified into flattened scales – structures so small they appear like dust to the naked eye.
In certain insects, such as butterflies and beetles, these scales scatter and reflect light to create some of the most vibrant and intense colours seen in nature.