Mind-blowing, magnified portraits of insects | Levon Biss

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

So, I had been a photographer

Dakle, radio sam kao fotograf

for 18 years

18 godina

before I began the Microsculpture Project.

kada sam započeo projekat Mikroskulpture.

And in that time, I had shot global ad campaigns,

A u to vreme sam fotografisao svetske reklamne kampanje,

I had the opportunity to photograph some of my generation's icons,

bio sam u prilici da fotografišem neke od kultnih ličnosti moje generacije

and I was traveling the world.

i putovao sam svetom.

I got to a point in my career that I dreamed of getting to,

Stigao sam do tačke u karijeri do koje sam sanjao da ću stići,

and yet, for some reason, I still felt a little bit unfulfilled.

pa ipak, iz nekog razloga, i dalje sam se osećao blago neispunjeno.

Despite the extraordinary things I was shooting and experiencing,

Uprkos izvanrednim stvarima koje sam fotografisao i doživljavao,

they'd started to feel a little bit ordinary to me.

počele su da mi se čine malčice obično.

I was also getting concerned

Takođe sam počeo da brinem

about how disposable photography had started to feel in the digital world,

oko toga koliko se čini da je fotografija postala jednokratna u digitalnom svetu,

and I really wanted to produce images that had a sense of worth again.

a ja sam zaista želeo da pravim slike koje su nanovo imale osećaj vrednosti.

And I needed a subject that felt extraordinary.

A bila mi je potrebna tema koja se činila izvanrednom.

Sometimes I wish I had the eyes of a child.

Ponekad poželim da imam detinji pogled.

And by that I mean, I wish I could look at the world

A pod time podrazumevam to da želim da posmatram svet

in the same as I did when I was a small boy.

onako kako sam to radio kad sam bio dečačić.

I think there is a danger, as we get older,

Mislim da postoji opasnost, kako starimo,

that our curiosity becomes slightly muted or dulled by familiarity.

da naša znatiželja postane blago utišana ili ublažena običnošću.

And as a visual creator, one of the challenges for me

A kao vizuelni stvaralac, za mene je jedan od izazova

is to present the familiar in a new and engaging way.

to da predstavim običnost na nov i angažovan način.

Fortunately for me, though, I've got two great kids

Srećom po mene, ipak, imam dvoje sjajne dece

who are still curious about the world.

koja su i dalje znatiželjna o svetu.

Sebastian -- he's still curious about the world, and in 2014, in spring,

Sebastijan - i dalje je znatiželjan o svetu, a 2014, na proleće,

he brought in a ground beetle from the garden.

u kuću je uneo običnu bubu iz dvorišta.

There was nothing particularly special about this insect --

Ništa nije bilo naročito posebno kod ovog insekta -

you know, it was a common species.

znate, bila je to rasprostranjena vrsta.

But he was still curious,

No, on je i dalje bio znatiželjan

and he brought it up to my office,

i doneo je u moju kancelariju

and we decided to look at it under his microscope.

i odlučili smo da je posmatramo ispod mikroskopa.

He had a little science kit for Christmas.

Dobio je mali naučni komplet za Božić.

And this is what we saw.

A ovo smo videli.

Now, when I first saw this, it blew me away.

Kad sam prvi put ovo ugledao, oduševio sam se.

Up here -- this is the back of the ground beetle.

Gore - ovo su leđa dvorišne bube.

When I first saw it, it reminded me of a galaxy.

Na prvi pogled me je podsetilo na galaksiju.

And all the time, this had just been outside our window.

A sve vreme, to se prosto nalazilo ispod našeg prozora.

You know, I was looking for this extraordinary subject,

Znate, tragao sam za nekakvom izvanrednom temom,

and it took Seb's eyes and curiosity to bring it in to me.

a bile su potrebne Sebove oči i znatiželja da mi to donesu.

So I decided to photograph it for him, and this is what I produced.

Pa sam odlučio da je fotografišem za njega i ovo sam napravio.

I basically asked myself two simple questions.

U suštini sam sebi postavio dva prosta pitanja.

The first one:

Prvo:

Could I take all my knowledge and skill of photographic lighting

mogu li da uzmem sve moje znanje i veštine fotografskog osvetljenja

and take that onto a subject that's five millimeters long?

i da to primenim na nešto što je dugo pet milimetara?

But also: Could I keep creative control over that lighting

Ali takođe: mogu li da zadržim kreativnu kontrolu nad tim osvetljenjem

on a subject that size?

na nečemu te veličine?

So I practiced on some other found specimens,

Pa sam vežbao na nekim drugim primercima koje sam našao,

and I approached the Oxford University Museum of Natural History

i obratio sam se Oksfordovom univerzitetskom muzeju istorije prirode

to see if I could have access to their collection,

da vidim da li mogu da imam pristup njihovoj kolekciji,

to progress the project.

kako bih unapredio projekat.

And I went up there for a meeting,

I otišao sam tamo na sastanak

and I showed them some of the images that I'd been shooting,

i pokazao im neke od slika koje sam fotografisao,

and they could see the kind of detail I was able to get.

i oni su videli do kojih detalja sam uspeo da slikam.

I don't think they'd ever really seen anything quite like it before,

Mislim da zaista nikad ranije nisu videli ništa slično

and from that point forward, they gave me open access

i od tad, pa nadalje, dali su mi slobodan pristup

to their entire collection

njihovoj celokupnoj kolekciji,

and the assistance of Dr. James Hogan, their entomologist.

kao i pomoć dr Džejmsa Hogana, njihovog entomologa.

Now, over the next two-and-a-half years,

Sad, u naredne dve i po godine,

I shot 37 insects from their collection.

fotografisao sam 37 insekata iz njihove kolekcije.

And the way I work

Način na koji radim

is that I essentially split the insect up into multiple sections,

je da u suštini podelim insekta u više delova,

and I treat each one of those sections like a small still life.

i odnosim se prema svakom delu kao prema maloj mrtvoj prirodi.

So for example, if I was photographing the eye of the insect,

Dakle, na primer, ako fotografišem oko insekta,

which is normally quite smooth and dome-shaped,

koje je obično prilično glatko i u obliku kupole,

then I'd use a light source that is large and soft and diffuse,

onda koristim izvor svetlosti koji je veliki, mek i razliva se,

so I don't get any harsh hot spots on that surface.

kako ne bih dobio oštre, jake tačke na toj površini.

But once my attention turns over to a hairy leg,

No, čim mi pažnja pređe na dlakavu nogu

that lighting setup will change completely.

podešavanje svetla se potpuno promeni.

And so I make that one tiny section look as beautiful as I possibly can,

Te se staram da sićušni deo izgleda što je lepše moguće,

and I work my way across the insect

i tako se snalazim sa čitavim insektom

until I have about 20 or 25 different sections.

dok dobijem oko 20 ili 25 različitih delova.

The issue with photography at high magnification

Problem sa fotografijom koja je drastično uvećana

is that there is inherently a very shallow depth of field.

je da je tu po prirodi veoma plitko vidno polje.

So to get around that, what I do is,

Kako bih to prenebregao, radim sledeće:

I put my camera on a rail

stavljam kameru na šine,

that I can automate to move 10 microns in between each shot.

koje mogu da automatizujem da se kreću 10 mikrona između svake slike.

That's about one-seventh the width of a human hair.

To je otprilike jedna sedmina širine ljudske dlake.

And then that provides me with a deep stack of images.

A to mi obezbeđuje veliku hrpu slika.

Each has a tiny sliver of focus all the way through.

Svaka ima trakicu fokusa čitavom dužinom.

And I can squash that down

A to mogu da sabijem

to produce one image that is fully focused from front to back.

kako bih napravio jednu sliku koja je potpuno fokusirana od vrha do dna.

So essentially, that gives me 25 sections that are fully focused

U suštini, tako dobijam 25 odeljaka koji su u punom fokusu

and beautifully lit.

i prelepo osvetljeni.

Now, each one of my images

Sad, svaka moja slika

is made up of anywhere between 8- and 10,000 separate shots.

je sastavljena od otprilike između 8 i 10 000 različitih slika.

They take about three-and-a-half weeks to create,

Potrebne su oko tri i po nedelje da se naprave,

and the file sizes on average are about four gigabytes.

a veličina fajla je u proseku oko četiri gigabajta.

So I've got plenty of information to play with when I'm printing.

Dakle, imam obilje informacija da se poigravam tokom štampanja.

And the prints at the exhibition are around the three-meter mark.

A štampa na izložbi je veličine oko tri metra.

In fact, I had a show in Milan two weeks ago,

Zapravo sam imao izložbu u Milanu pre dve nedelje

and we had some prints there that were nine meters long.

i tu smo imali slike koje su bile duge devet metara.

But, you know, I realize

Ali, znate, shvatam

that these images still have to work in the digital world.

da te slike i dalje moraju da deluju u digitalnom svetu.

There's no point in me putting all my blood, sweat and tears

Nema svrhe da stavljam svu svoju krv, znoj i suze

into these pictures

u ove slike,

if they're only going to be showing 500 pixels on a screen.

ako će se jedino prikazivati u 500 piksela na ekranu.

So with the help of Rob Chandler and Will Cookson,

Pa, uz pomoć Roba Čendlera i Vila Kuksona,

we developed a website

napravili smo vebsajt

that enables the viewer to immerse themselves

koji omogućava gledaocu da se udubi

into the full four-gigabyte files,

u celokupne fajlove od četiri gigabajta,

and they can explore all that microscopic detail.

i mogu da istražuju sve te mikroskopske detalje.

So if you have the time, and I encourage you,

Pa, ako imate vremena, a ja vas ohrabrujem,

please visit microsculpture.net

molim vas, posetite microsculpture.net

and go and have a play.

i poigrajte se.

It's good fun.

Dobra je zabava.

I first showed the work at Oxford,

Prvo sam svoj rad prikazao na Oksfordu,

and since then, it's moved on to the Middle East.

a od tad se preselio na Bliski istok.

It's now back in Europe and goes to Copenhagen this month.

Ponovo se vratio u Evropu i ovog meseca ide u Kopenhagen.

And the feedback has been great.

A reakcije su sjajne.

You know, I get emails, actually, from all over the world --

Znate, dobijam imejlove, zapravo iz čitavog sveta -

from teachers, at the moment, who are using the website in school.

od nastavnika, koji trenutno koriste vebsajt u školama.

The kids are using them on the tablet.

Deca koriste slike na tabletima.

They're zooming into the pictures

Zumiraju slike

and using it for art class, biology class.

i koriste ih na času likovnog, biologije.

And that's not something I planned.

A to nisam planirao.

That's just a beautiful offshoot of the project.

To je prosto prelep izdanak ovog projekta.

In fact, one of the things I like to do at the exhibitions

Zapravo, nešto što volim da radim na izložbama

is actually look at the kiddies' reactions.

je da posmatram reakciju klinaca.

And, you know, standing in front of a three-meter insect,

I, znate, stoje ispred insekta od tri metra,

they could have been horrified.

mogli bi da budu prestravljeni.

But they're not. They look in wonder.

Ali nisu. Posmatraju u čudu.

This little chap here, he stood there for five minutes, motionless.

Ovaj delija ovde, stajao je tu pet minuta, ne pomerajući se.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And at the end of the day, actually, at the end of the day at the exhibitions,

A na kraju dana, zapravo, na kraju dana svake izložbe,

we have to wipe down the lower third of the big prints --

moramo da brišemo donju trećinu velikih postera -

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

just to remove all those sticky handprints,

kako bismo uklonili sve te lepljive otiske ruku

because all they want to do is touch those big bugs.

jer sve što deca žele je da dotaknu te velike bube.

I do want to leave you with one final image, if that's OK.

Želim da vas ostavim sa poslednjom slikom, ako je to u redu.

This has to do with Charles Darwin.

Ona ima veze sa Čarlsom Darvinom.

One of the recent images that I photographed

Jedna od slika koju sam nedavno fotografisao

was this one here.

je bila ova.

I'm talking about the creature in the box, not my cat.

Govorim o biću u kutiji, ne o mojoj mački.

And this is a shield bug

A ovo je smrdibuba

that Charles Darwin brought back from Australia

koju je Čarls Darvin doneo iz Australije

on the HMS Beagle in 1836.

na Biglu, brodu Njenog veličanstva, 1836.

And when I got it home,

A kad sam je doneo kući,

I stood in my kitchen and stared at it for about 20 minutes.

stajao sam u kuhinji i zurio u nju dvadesetak minuta.

I couldn't believe I was in possession of this beautiful creature.

Nisam mogao da verujem da je kod mene ovo prelepo biće.

And at that moment, I kind of realized

A u tom trenutku, nekako sam uvideo

that this validated the project for me.

da ovo daje težinu mom projektu.

The fact that the museum was willing to risk me playing with this

Činjenica da je muzej spreman da rizikuje da bih se ja igrao s ovim,

kind of showed me that my images had worth --

nekako mi je pokazala da moje slike vrede -

you know, they weren't disposable.

znate, nisu jednokratne.

That's the image that I produced.

Ovo je slika koju sam napravio.

I often wonder, still, when I look at this:

Često se i dalje pitam, posmatrajući je:

What would Charles Darwin make of these images?

šta bi Čarlsu Darvinu značile ove slike?

Do you think he'd like his picture of his shield bug? I hope so.

Da li mislite da bi mu se svidela slika njegove smrdibube? Nadam se.

So --

Dakle -

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

You know, I think it's strange in a way.

Znate, mislim da je nekako čudno.

I'm a visual person, I'm a creative person,

Ja sam vizuelna osoba, ja sam kreativna osoba,

but I still needed the eyes of a child to find my extraordinary subject.

ali i dalje mi je trebao dečji pogled kako bih otkrio izvanrednu temu.

That's the way it was.

Tako je to bilo.

So all I can say is, thank you very much, Sebastian;

Pa, samo mogu da kažem: Sebastijane, mnogo ti hvala;

I am very, very grateful.

Veoma, veoma sam zahvalan.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)