Mind-blowing, magnified portraits of insects | Levon Biss

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

So, I had been a photographer

我當攝影師

for 18 years

已經十八年了。

before I began the Microsculpture Project.

這是在我開始微雕塑計畫之前。

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

那時我拍過全球的廣告活動，

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

有機會拍過我那個世代的偶像，

and I was traveling the world.

也環遊過世界。

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

我已達到了夢想要達到的目標，

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

但不知為何，內心仍感到些許空虛。

Despite the extraordinary things I was shooting and experiencing,

儘管我拍攝過、 經歷過許多不凡的事物，

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

卻開始覺得它們有點平凡了。

I was also getting concerned

我也開始擔心

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

在數位世界中，人們對於 過目即逝的照片有什麼感受，

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

我也真的想再創造出 一些有價值感的影像。

And I needed a subject that felt extraordinary.

我需要感覺不凡的題材。

Sometimes I wish I had the eyes of a child.

有時我希望能有孩童的眼睛。

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

意思是我希望現在還能用

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

小時候看世界的方式來看世界。

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

我認為隨著長大，會有一種危機，

that our curiosity becomes slightly muted or dulled by familiarity.

熟悉度會讓我們的好奇心 變得有些抑制或遲鈍。

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

身為視覺創作者，我的挑戰之一，

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

是用新的、吸引人的方式 來呈現熟悉的東西。

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

不過，我很幸運有兩個很棒的孩子，

who are still curious about the world.

他們仍然對世界感到好奇。

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

賽巴斯汀仍然對世界感到好奇。

在 2014 年春天，

he brought in a ground beetle from the garden.

他從花園裡帶回了一隻步行蟲。

There was nothing particularly special about this insect --

這隻昆蟲沒什麼特別的地方，

you know, it was a common species.

是一種常見的品種。

But he was still curious,

但他仍然感到好奇，

and he brought it up to my office,

他將這隻蟲帶進我的辦公室，

and we decided to look at it under his microscope.

我們決定用他的顯微鏡來檢視牠。

He had a little science kit for Christmas.

他在聖誕節時得到了 一小套科學裝備。

And this is what we saw.

這是我們所看到的。

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

第一次看到這影像時，我好驚艷。

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

上面這裡－這是步行蟲的背。

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

初次看到它時，我聯想到銀河。

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

而這影像其實一直都在我們的窗外。

You know, I was looking for this extraordinary subject,

我當時在尋找不凡的題材，

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

結果是賽巴斯汀的眼睛和好奇心， 把它帶到我面前。

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

我決定為他拍這隻蟲， 而這是我拍出的成果。

I basically asked myself two simple questions.

基本上，我問自己兩個簡單的問題。

The first one:

第一：

Could I take all my knowledge and skill of photographic lighting

能不能把我對於攝影光線的 所有知識和技巧

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

用在只有 5mm 長度的題材上？

But also: Could I keep creative control over that lighting

還有：我能把燈光的創意控制

好好的用在這種尺寸上嗎？

on a subject that size?

So I practiced on some other found specimens,

所以我找了一些標本來練習，

and I approached the Oxford University Museum of Natural History

我也聯絡了牛津大學 自然歷史博物館，

to see if I could have access to their collection,

看能不能讓我用他們的收藏

to progress the project.

來進展計畫。

And I went up there for a meeting,

我去那裡開了一場會，

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

讓他們看些我拍攝的作品，

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

了解我能追求到的細節。

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

我想他們未曾看過類似的東西，

and from that point forward, they gave me open access

從那之後，

他們就開放了所有收藏供我使用，

to their entire collection

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

還讓他們的昆蟲學家 詹姆士霍根博士來協助我。

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

接下來的兩年半，

I shot 37 insects from their collection.

我拍攝了他們收藏中的 37 隻昆蟲。

And the way I work

我的做法基本上是 把昆蟲分為幾個部份，

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

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

把每一部份都當作 一個小型靜止的生命來看待。

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

比如，如果我要拍昆蟲的眼睛，

which is normally quite smooth and dome-shaped,

它通常很平滑且是半球形的，

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

我選用的光源就是 大型、柔和、擴散的光源，

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

不讓表面上出現任何刺目的熱點。

But once my attention turns over to a hairy leg,

一旦我的注意力轉向有毛的足部時，

that lighting setup will change completely.

光線的設定就會完全改變。

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

盡可能讓每一個小部份 都看起來非常美麗，

and I work my way across the insect

然後我繼續在昆蟲全身這樣做，

until I have about 20 or 25 different sections.

直到我完成 20 或 25 個 不同的部份。

The issue with photography at high magnification

高倍放大的照片有個問題，

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

就是本質上景深很淺。

So to get around that, what I do is,

為解決這個問題，

我的做法把相機放在軌道上，

I put my camera on a rail

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

在拍攝兩張照片之間 自動移動十微米，

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

約是人類頭髮寬度的七分之一。

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

那給了我厚厚一疊的影像。

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

一路下來的焦距有微少的差距。

And I can squash that down

我可以把它們壓在一起，

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

產生一張從前面到後面 完整焦距的影像。

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

基本上，我有 25 個焦距完整、

and beautifully lit.

燈光漂亮的局部影像。

Now, each one of my images

此時，我的每一張影像

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

都是大約八千到一萬張照片組成的。

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

要花三週半的時間才能完成，

and the file sizes on average are about four gigabytes.

平均的檔案大小約是 4GB。

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

我有很多資訊可以在列印時擺弄。

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

展覽用的列印成品大約是三公尺長。

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

事實上，兩週前我在米蘭有場展出，

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

有些列印出來的展品長達九公尺。

But, you know, I realize

但我了解

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

這些影像仍需要用在數位世界裡。

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

如果我投入血、汗和淚水的圖片

into these pictures

只呈現在 500 像素的螢幕上， 實在沒有意義。

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

So with the help of Rob Chandler and Will Cookson,

所以，在羅勃尚德勒和 威爾庫克森的協助下，

we developed a website

我們開發了一個網站，

that enables the viewer to immerse themselves

讓觀者能夠沉浸到

into the full four-gigabyte files,

完整的 4GB 檔案當中，

and they can explore all that microscopic detail.

他們能夠探索所有的顯微鏡細節。

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

如果你們有時間，

我鼓勵你們造訪 microsculpture.net，

please visit microsculpture.net

and go and have a play.

去玩看看。

It's good fun.

很有趣。

I first showed the work at Oxford,

我最初是在牛津展出，

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

接著，就開始前進中東。

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

現在回來歐洲， 這個月在哥本哈根展出。

And the feedback has been great.

我得到的回饋都很棒。

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

我收到來自世界各地的電子郵件，

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

多半來自在學校 用那個網站的老師們。

The kids are using them on the tablet.

孩子們用平板電腦來上網站，

They're zooming into the pictures

把圖片放大，

and using it for art class, biology class.

用在美術課、生物課。

And that's not something I planned.

那不在我的計畫之中，

That's just a beautiful offshoot of the project.

只是這個計畫的美麗衍生物。

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

事實上，我喜歡在展覽會場 看孩子們的反應。

is actually look at the kiddies' reactions.

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

他們站在三公尺大的昆蟲前面

they could have been horrified.

很可能會嚇壞。

結果沒有。

But they're not. They look in wonder.

他們驚異敬佩地欣賞著。

這個小傢伙一動也不動地 站在那裡足足五分鐘。

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

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

在那天結束時，在展覽那天結束時，

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

我們得要擦拭大型展品的 下面三分之一那部份。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

just to remove all those sticky handprints,

擦掉那些黏黏的手印，

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

因為他們想摸那些大昆蟲。

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

如果可以的話， 我想給各位看最後一張影像。

This has to do with Charles Darwin.

這和達爾文有關，

One of the recent images that I photographed

是我近期所拍攝的影像，

was this one here.

就是這張。

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

我說的是盒子裡的生物， 不是我的貓。

And this is a shield bug

這是樁象（臭蟲），

that Charles Darwin brought back from Australia

是達爾文在 1836 年搭小獵犬號

on the HMS Beagle in 1836.

從澳洲帶回來的。

And when I got it home,

當我回到家，

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

我站在廚房裡， 盯著牠看約二十分鐘。

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

我無法相信我擁有 這隻美麗的小生物。

And at that moment, I kind of realized

那一刻，我了解到，

that this validated the project for me.

牠為我認可了這個計畫。

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

博物館願意冒險讓我拍攝牠，

kind of showed me that my images had worth --

某種程度就表示我的影像有價值，

you know, they weren't disposable.

並不是一次即丟的。

That's the image that I produced.

這就是我製作的影像。

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

看著這個影像時，我仍然常會好奇：

What would Charles Darwin make of these images?

達爾文對這些影像會有什麼看法？

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

你認為他會喜歡他的樁象的照片嗎？

So --

我希望會。

所以...

(Applause)

（掌聲）

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

有件事我覺得蠻奇怪的。

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

我是個視覺性的人、有創意的人，

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

但我仍然需要孩童的眼睛 來找到不凡的題材。

That's the way it was.

之前就是這樣。

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

所以我能說的就是，

非常謝謝你，賽巴斯汀；

I am very, very grateful.

我非常感恩。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）