Closer than you’ve ever been

(Last Updated On: June 3, 2016)

mantispid by Levon BissPhotographer Levon Biss started out with portrait and sports photography, but got hooked on insects.  Now his extreme photographic skills have landed him a gig at the Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History.

Biss shoots his images through a microscope to create scenes that no human eye has seen before. That’s because, even for an entomologist with a very good microscope, it’s impossible to see a full insect, like the mantis fly image shown here, in complete focus all at once.

Biss achieves this by piecing together around 30 mosaic images, each of which might itself be a montage of 2-300 images shot at a slightly different focus point. Each picture in his exhibit at Oxford is comprised of between 8,000 and 10,000 images.

All this work allows Bing to create pieces of art that cover a canvas the size of a wall.  So if you can’t make it to Oxford University this summer, at least check out this video on Facebook to learn more about the process. Its worth the 5 minute watch time.

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