The Archer

Photo Project

4x magnification

October 2025

About

About

Series: Microscope Stained Glass

Photo Project

4x magnification

October 2025

This project came about by accident when I brought out my old microscope I've had since I was young. While looking at samples of bug wings, I found that a small corner of one of the glass slides had gotten crushed in the box, so I put it under the lens to see how the light would interact with it. Intruiged by the initial results, I was interested to see what I could do with a little more color, so I got a CD and angled it different ways until these mosaics emerged.

When I was taking these photos I just thought the colors looked nice, but later I began to see a person. I called this set of photos The Archer because I see a person shooting a bow and arrow, though my friend saw a person riding a dragon and you may see something entirely different.

The microscope is in storage now and I won't be able to use it again for a while, but I'd like to make a bigger (smaller?) art project with this idea eventually. There's a certain charm in finding and creating beauty in very very little things.

Every photo in this series was shot on an iPhone, and is unedited aside from very minor color correction and a little cropping to center the viewing area.

Published 2025-10-21 Updated 2026-04-18