Microsculpture show at Oxford Museum of Natural History

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-36391070

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Giant versions of the "bizarre microscopic form of insects" made of up to 8,000 individual photographs are at the centre of a new exhibition.

Taken by British photographer Levon Biss, the show at Oxford's Museum of Natural History features 24 images, some of which are three metres wide.

The individual shots were merged to form a detailed, large-format picture.

Mr Biss said his passion to produce the works stemmed from his son's fascination with insects in the garden.

"My son once found a ground beetle in the garden and we decided to take a look at it under his microscope", he said.

"I was stunned at how beautiful it was up close so decided to photograph it for him. From then on I have only been interested in photographing insects."

To create the images, the insect is photographed in approximately 30 different sections.

"Each section is lit differently with strobe lights to bring out the micro-sculptural beauty of that particular section of the body," said Mr Biss.

"For example, I will light and shoot just one antenna, then I will move on to the eye until I have covered the whole surface area of the insect."

The Microsculpture exhibition will be available to view until October.