#micrographs

Micrograph of part of the reproductive system of Medicago arborea.

What to many of us seems to be an indiscriminate mass of small creatures, symmetrical, with three body sections, six legs, compound eyes, antennae and an exoskeleton, developed gradually over millions of years. Insects have existed for 420 million years; humans like us have been around for no more than 200,000 years. In short, insects are different, ancient, numerous, diverse, essential and, as a new exhibition of photographs at the Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv (curator: Dr. Netta Dorchin) shows – also gorgeous. What more is needed to persuade people to take an interest in them?

Using scanning electron microscopy and a mix of microscopic, scientific, digital, and manual processes, artist Rob Kesseler develops colored micrographs of the intricate patterns within pollen and seed grains, plant cells, and leaf structures. The highly magnified photographs feature specifics of cellular composition that are undetectable without magnification.

Kesseler tells Colossal that as a child, his father gifted him a microscope, marking a pivotal moment in his creative career. “What the microscope gave me was an unprecedented view of nature, a second vision,” he writes, “and awareness that there existed another world of forms, colours and patterns beyond what I could normally see.” The artist says his use of color is inspired by the time he spends researching and observing, and that just like nature, he employs it to attract attention.

Kesseler calls the intersection between art and science “a process and a product, a morphogenetic synthesis of two expansive cultures and a way of examining the world through a series of filters.” And he has hope for the relationship between the two disciplines, saying, “I like to think we are entering a new age where after a century of separation, artists and scientists are again working together, sharing ideas that reflect our age.”

Currently the chair of Arts, Design and Science at Central Saint Martins, Kesseler also is a fellow of the Linnean Society, the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Microscopical Society. His most recent work includes a project with journalist Mathew Tucker of the BBC and a collaboration with Dr. Louise Hughes at Oxford Instruments. Both deal with the impacts of climate change on the plant world.

You can find more of Kesseler’s painstakingly created photographs in his books featuring pollen, seeds, and fruit.