Levon Biss: Mind-blowing, magnified portraits of insects
Левон Бісс: Приголомшливі величезні портрети комах
With his "Microsculpture" series, Levon Biss photographs the incredible details of insects. Full bio
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I had shot global ad campaigns,
рекламні кампанії,
some of my generation's icons,
деяких кумирів мого покоління
that I dreamed of getting to,
I still felt a little bit unfulfilled.
почувався неповноцінно.
I was shooting and experiencing,
які я знімав та переживав,
a little bit ordinary to me.
had started to feel in the digital world,
відчувається в цифровому світі,
that had a sense of worth again.
які б мали цінність.
that felt extraordinary.
I had the eyes of a child.
I wish I could look at the world
when I was a small boy.
as we get older,
slightly muted or dulled by familiarity.
стихає та тьмяніє від буденності.
one of the challenges for me
один з викликів для мене -
in a new and engaging way.
у новий та захопливий спосіб.
I've got two great kids
about the world, and in 2014, in spring,
і в 2014, навесні
from the garden.
about this insect --
на нього під його мікроскопом.
under his microscope.
дослідницький набір на Різдво.
коли я побачив все вперше.
it blew me away.
of the ground beetle.
it reminded me of a galaxy.
мені пригадалась галактика.
been outside our window.
за нашим вікном.
for this extraordinary subject,
to bring it in to me.
вказали мені на нього.
and this is what I produced.
для нього і ось що я створив.
two simple questions.
of photographic lighting
знання про фотоосвітлення
that's five millimeters long?
creative control over that lighting
контроль над світлом
on some other found specimens,
Museum of Natural History
в Оксфордському університеті,
to their collection,
доступ до їхньої колекції,
that I'd been shooting,
the kind of detail I was able to get.
які деталі я зумів отримати.
anything quite like it before,
бачили щось подібне,
they gave me open access
мені вільний доступ
their entomologist.
їхнього ентомолога.
з їхньої колекції.
up into multiple sections,
like a small still life.
це маленьке тихе життя.
the eye of the insect,
and dome-shaped,
that is large and soft and diffuse,
та розсіююче джерело світла,
on that surface.
turns over to a hairy leg,
will change completely.
look as beautiful as I possibly can,
виглядала якомога красивішою,
different sections.
20 чи 25 різних секцій.
at high magnification
a very shallow depth of field.
to move 10 microns in between each shot.
мікронів між кожним кадром.
of a human hair.
with a deep stack of images.
all the way through.
that is fully focused from front to back.
яке фокусує все від переду до заду.
25 sections that are fully focused
які повністю сфокусовані
between 8- and 10,000 separate shots.
8-10,000 окремих знімків.
weeks to create,
are about four gigabytes.
to play with when I'm printing.
під час друку.
are around the three-meter mark.
in Milan two weeks ago,
that were nine meters long.
in the digital world.
в цифровому світі.
сльози та кров
all my blood, sweat and tears
500 pixels on a screen.
лише 500 пікселів.
and Will Cookson,
та Вілла Куксона
to immerse themselves
all that microscopic detail.
всі мікроскопічні деталі.
and I encourage you,
to the Middle East.
до Середнього Сходу.
and goes to Copenhagen this month.
і цього місяця вирушить в Копенгаген.
from all over the world --
who are using the website in school.
використовують сайт у школі.
уроках мистецтва та біології.
of the project.
I like to do at the exhibitions
хотів зробити на виставці, -
the kiddies' reactions.
in front of a three-meter insect,
for five minutes, motionless.
at the end of the day at the exhibitions,
the lower third of the big prints --
all those sticky handprints,
is touch those big bugs.
доторкнутись до тих великих комах.
with one final image, if that's OK.
я би хотів показати ще одне зображення.
that I photographed
in the box, not my cat.
в коробці, не про кота.
brought back from Australia
and stared at it for about 20 minutes.
20 хвилин витріщався на нього.
of this beautiful creature.
владою цього чудового створіння.
was willing to risk me playing with this
ризикнув і дозволив мені гратися з цим,
that my images had worth --
when I look at this:
дивлячись на це:
make of these images?
of his shield bug? I hope so.
його щитника? Я сподіваюсь, що так.
I'm a creative person,
to find my extraordinary subject.
аби знайти мій незвичайний суб'єкт.
дякую тобі, Себастьяне,
thank you very much, Sebastian;
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Levon Biss - PhotographerWith his "Microsculpture" series, Levon Biss photographs the incredible details of insects.
Why you should listen
Levon Biss is a British photographer who works across many genres, including reportage, sport and portraiture. His passion for nature and photography have come together to create Microsculpture. For the project, a unique photographic process composites thousands of images using multiple lighting setups to create the final insect portraits. Each specimen was mounted on an adapted microscope stage, allowing close control over the position of the specimen in front of the camera lens. Most insects were photographed in about 30 sections, each section lit differently with strobe lights to accentuate the microsculpture of that particular area of the body. Each insect portrait is created from more than 8,000 separate images. In between his insect projects, Biss continues to photograph humans.
Levon Biss | Speaker | TED.com