Glam Bugs
Before photographing bugs, like most people, I saw them as insignificant and annoying creatures. However, my impressions began to change when I observed bugs through the eyes of a lens. Their lives took on a new significance and meaning, and by the end of a shoot, I saw them as icons that were larger than life – sometimes as heroic figures in an epic drama; at other times superstars adored by millions; or the tragic victims of a cruel world.
In creating images in this theatrical series, I begin with a concept, making sketches and fleshing out the characters I want to create. I start building sets that can range in size from a few square inches to a few square feet. Then I search for the perfect bugs to play my assigned roles. Once the “stars” are discovered, I position them in poses with dramatic lighting set-ups, which are often very complex. I use cards and flags to create tiny shafts of light. When the bugs are ready to be photographed close-up, the final images are shot on film using a 4×5 view camera.
I prefer using the most mundane and readily available bugs – found in basements, windowsills, and sidewalks. I like to glamorize them, and give them an ambiguous and exciting allure. Some of my bugs end up in gritty burial grounds: dirt, cardboard, the floor… while others are given a rather more glamorous send-off, with all the pomp and glitter of Hollywood.
I try to see their faces and look into their eyes. Perhaps their expressions do contain the echoes of untold epic tales, or perhaps, in the end, each of them is simply a dead bug, as the cycle of life completes another turn.