Nathan Ely

Radiolaria, 2018

Scanning electron photomicrograph
Cyanotype; digital reproduction

The State University of New York at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York, United States

This work operates at the intersection of scientific and historic photographic processes. Its origins are grounded in interdisciplinary research using an electron microscope required for the production of carefully made sublime representations of nature. Final prints are created using a historic photographic process known as cyanotype, which produces a characteristic Prussian blue color. Incorporating handcrafted printing techniques places the image further outside of its ordinary taxonomy as an object of science and emphasizes aesthetic qualities, as well as the physicality of sample.