YOUR MAJESTIC MODELSUnder magniication,
the bug revealed an
iridescent-green body
with geometric markings.
Captivated, Biss decided to
use his cameras—which he
usually points at celebrities
and athletes for high-end
magazine covers—to cap-
ture the brilliant majesty of
these hectic hexapods.
Focusing on tiny subjects
is tricky. Depth of ield is
hard to achieve at these
zoom levels. Biss built a
camera rig with a micro-
scope lens. Then he mounted
it on a rail that moves it 10
microns (one-seventh the
width of a human hair) at
a time. In this way, he takes
up to 10,000 images of each
bug and later stitches them
together with software.
Today, Biss’ “microsculp-
tures” hang in art galleries.
Each of his digital iles also
lives online for anyone to
access. This magazine isn’t
physically large enough for
us to show off exactly how
detailed and crisp these
images really are. But unlike
other bug pics you may
have seen, these could be
blown up to billboard size.Entomologists
estimate Earth’s
bug population at
around 10 quin-
tillion. That’s
19 zeroes, people. But while
insects, with an estimated
6 million species, account for
one of the largest biomasses
on our planet, most pass us
by with a buzz on their part
and a “Yagh!” on ours.
PhotographerLevon Biss’
has always wanted a closer
look. He became obsessed
with bugs when he and his
son trained a microscope
on a ground beetle.POPSCI.COM.AU 51