Happy Nice Mall

This article is part of our latest article Special section on museumsfocusing on new artists, new audiences, and new ways of thinking about exhibitions.

For most people, insects are annoying – sometimes scary. They are creatures that will be shot in the arm, trampled on, or destroyed with excessive pesticides.

But Levon Biss, a macrophotographer who takes extreme close-ups of very small subjects, and curators and scientists at the American Museum of Natural History see the insect world in a radically different way: essential to life on Earth, endangered, and – in many cases. cases – heading towards extinction.

A show, set to open in June, based on Mr. Biss’ work, will highlight 40 insects, some already extinct and some considered endangered. Among those appearing are the monarch butterfly, the nine-spotted ladybug, the Puritan tiger beetle, the Hawaiian hammerhead fruit fly, the Mount Hermon June beetle, and the San Joaquin flower-loving fly. Most of the models used for Mr. Biss’s photographs were selected from more than 20 million specimens that are part of the museum archives.

Mr. Biss’ camera shows them in a completely new way, using a technique that magnifies the tiny details of their tiny beauties to enormous proportions. For now, the exhibition of 54″ x 96″ photographs will be housed in the museum’s Akeley Gallery and the adjoining East Galleria. Biss, who is also the author of “Microsculpture: Portraits of Insects,” has exhibited his work in a number of museums in Houston, Copenhagen and beyond.

“People usually come here to see all the creatures they love; elephants, dinosaurs, blue whale,” said Lauri Halderman, the museum’s vice president of exhibition.

“For people to be interested, the exhibit has to be beautiful,” he added. “Most of us have never seen insects presented like this. Levon’s photographs are beautiful, bizarre, and have more intricate details than most of us could have imagined.”

Mr. Biss, 47, has done commercial work and advertising campaigns, photographing sports icons and making documentaries for the past 24 years. He grew up in London but now lives and works in a small village in the English countryside.

In a phone interview, he discussed his work and the exhibition, which will open on June 22. These are excerpts from the speech.

How did you become interested in this type of photography?

Macrophotography started for me in 2012 with my son, Sebastian, who found a bug in our backyard. We looked under the microscope and I was very impressed with the details. At that time, the work I was doing was not satisfying and I wanted to produce images that had a sense of value again. I was aware of the talk about insect decline, biodiversity loss, and habitat loss, so I started researching and realized that my paintings could be more than just beautiful paintings.

What exactly is a macrophoto?

You look at things at a microscopic level, photographing objects at a larger magnification than real size. I’m working with microscope lenses, a DSLR camera, and electric craft gear I’ve created.

What were some of the challenges of putting this show together?

How do we present tiny little bugs that are exciting and visual so that the public can find them interesting and educational, often enclosed in cabinets that are difficult to see and study, or displayed hunched under a microscope? We couldn’t just choose the most beautiful species – instead, 40 images were chosen for their conservation status. Most of these specimens are over 100 years old.

What was your particular process?

Most of the images were made from more than 10,000 individual shots per insect, and each took about three weeks to render. I usually work on three pictures at once. When photographing an insect, I have a set of computers that process images from the previous week’s footage, while other computers are used to retouch and create the insect image I took a photo of two weeks ago. There can be 25 different segments for an insect, and each of these segments can consist of more than 500 individual shots. Once these individual segments are flattened and fully focused, they are put together like a jigsaw puzzle to create the final image.

What do you hope to achieve with these images?

I want to engage in conversations to raise awareness of the insect reduction crisis and help the public understand that we need biodiversity in the insect world. I want people to admire their beauty but at the same time be very upset about why they are put in front of them.

What was it like working with organisms that no longer exist?

Knowing that an insect will never exist on this planet again is sad and emotional, especially due to human influence. And that’s humiliating. As an artist, that’s what drives me to make this painting as good as it can be.

Why did you choose the ladybug as the main image of the show?

We wanted to start with a specific, iconic insect known to most people. The idea that this insect is included in an exhibit on extinction or that its existence could be threatened must have been shocking.

Was there a bug you included that surprised you?

The Lord Howe Island stick beetle from an island off the coast of Australia and thought to be extinct for decades. A breeding pair has been found and they have been successfully reproducing them ever since. This is one of the positive aspects of this exhibition. We demonstrate by intervention that there are opportunities to reverse insect decline.

What do you think the next generation will do?

The next generation has grown up with these problems and climate change being a factor of life. They are more conscious and more environmentally friendly than my generation. They are well educated and knowledgeable. They are ready to take on these challenges. I hope that when they grow up to be decision makers, they will point us in the right direction.