I came across detail shots of these on tumblr and had to go questing for more, and while it seems likely I’ve seen Levon Biss‘s work before, it’s been amazing rediscovering it after dipping my own toes into amateur macro photography.
Sometimes these days when I watch movies or play games that use speculative designs, I find myself able to namedrop the visuals they reference simply because Cool Visuals Online have such a consistent cycle of being rediscovered by the next of Today’s Lucky 10 000.
Insect anatomy. Poppy seed heads. Crabeater seal teeth. Transparent fish. Olms. Petra. Brutalism. Mont Saint-Michel. They are striking visuals and it’s natural to use these as starting points for something fantastical or futuristic, but it does give me a strong case of
when they remain fairly surface level and recognizeable as references. Hopefully people who don’t work in concept art aren’t nearly so sensitive to this stuff!
But it does leave me giving myself anxiety about what visual references are useful and novel and interesting whenever I get to approach something fantastical as well, and so when something hits my eyeballs that fully stops me in my tracks I really have to grab and hold it. These phasmid (stick insect) eggs are absolutely doing that to me now!
That said, browsing Levon Biss’s website, it’s hard to say if it’s the essence of the subject matter that is giving me such a hit of novelty, or the photographer’s treatment of it. Say what you will about knolling and similar urges, but Biss really has an eye for presenting things in surprising and exciting ways. Look at these cubes of genetically modified tomatoes!
In concept art, you always have to balance novelty, interest, and clarity (something I need to write about more myself on here). Fine art photography has totally different pressures and goals.
Biss’s photography doesn’t need the viewers to be able to read the contents clearly – and in fact kind of relies on them not, despite the framework and performance of clarity – so while it is immensely satisfying for me to look at, it can’t translate one-to-one into a videogame item or cinematic set piece without some additional elements that give the audience information that takes them from surprising objects or visuals and turns them into little lenses that can tell you about the fictional world.
Which is why I want to turn all those phasmid eggs into collectible hats.
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