Honorable Mention
Star Walker
DESCRIPTION
A cosmic, yet organic, version of a star war’s AT AT walker.I am always interested in exploring the Magritte inspired idea of “this is not….”
This is, in reality, a still life of crystals of picric acid, acid fuchsin and alanine (an amino acid) shot using polarised light at x200 magnification and created through the laborious and skilful process of stacking and stitching around 1200 images (part algorithmic, part slow and mechanical).
But I search for crystals that look like something else, here the Star Walker.
AUTHOR
I'm a Cambridge based secondary (high school) teacher and photographer.I explore texture, colour, perspective, light, shade and translucency using mineral, vegetable and animal matter prepared with skill for the microscope and camera.
Most of my pieces first involve preparation of a slide, which can take can take several days of technical work involving staining and lab equipment. Microscopes have a very limited focus depth and small field of view. I create compositions by taking hundreds or thousands of photographs together with focus stacking and stitching, both algorithmic and manual.
I use a variety of lighting techniques, quite often utilising polarised light.
There are wonderful visions of abstract beauty hidden from view and my goal is to compose these and bring them to colourful light.
