THE ESSENCE OF BEAUTIFUL SPECIMENS NOW

Does an animal have a soul? And if so, where does it reside? Is its body an expression of soul somehow? Today we are featuring the works of two artists that go deep into bodies to expose their essence and, in doing so, they seem to touch upon spirits.

ADAM SUMMERS

The “clearing and staining” methodologies used by Brandon Ballengée, get pushed into a slightly different feeling by Professor Adam Summers, associate director of Comparative Vertebrate Biomechanics at the University of Washington.

Summers collects specimens from local fisheries to use as subjects. He takes photos of dissected fish and processes them to reveal their inner structure and beauty as part of his research.

Using Alcian Blue to stain cartilage, and Alizarin Red S to dye bone, Summers highlights the fishes’ inner architecture. Working with a digestive enzyme, called Trypsin, he removes the protein, while leaving the collagen that holds bones and skins together.

He then bleaches the fish to remove any dark pigments in the dye before submerging them in glycerine, which renders the fish transparent. Summers finally uses a 100 mm macro lens to photograph submerged specimens on a color-corrected LED table.

Beautiful Specimens of Spiny Lumpsucker, Little Skate and Butterfly Ray, among others, all gain new life and perspective, as Summers turns them into art.

In a recent exhibit at the Seattle Aquarium, Summers paired each one of his photographs with a poem.

Watch this video to see how Summers creates these Beautiful Specimens.

 

IORI TOMITA

Japanese artist Iori Tomita celebrates beautiful fish specimens in his new series, New World Transparent Specimens. His pieces are imbued with soul… you feel the essence of the animal featured in each.

Tomita uses similar processes to work with animal bodies in chemicals until they become transparent, then uses colored dyes to tint their bones, connective tissue, and cartilage. The animals themselves are works of art. Tomita merely shows them off.

"I create transparent specimens as pieces of work that help people feel closer to the wonders of life,” explains Tomita in an interview with the Daily Mail.

“People may look at my specimens as an academic material, a piece of art, or even an entrance to philosophy. There is no limitation to how you interpret their meaning. I hope you will find my work as a “lens” to project a new image, a new world that you’ve never seen before."

 

Read more about Beautiful Specimens, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 Most Beautiful Specimens Available Now, 10 Most Stunningly Beautiful Mineral Specimens Now, 40 Beautiful Specimens of Fruit in 1 Amazing Specimen Tree, The Art of Specimens Now and 10 Beautiful Specimen Trees to Visit Now.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Specimens in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 10.19.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: by Adam Summers. "Butterfly.’"
2. Photo: by Adam Summers. "Carp."
3. Photo: by Adam Summers. “Little Skate.”
4. Photo: by Adam Summers. ‘Greenling.’
5. Photo: by Adam Summers. “Lampsucker.”
6. Photo: by Adam Summers. “Tube Snout.”
7. Photo: byIori Tomita. Hippocampus histrix.
8. Photo: byIori Tomita. Sebastes schlegelii.
9. Photo: byIori Tomita. Testudinidae sp.
10. Photo: byIori Tomita. Lumpfish.
11. Photo: byIori Tomita. Bellied Newt.