Michael Peres
Michael Peres has a BA in Biology, a BS in Biomedical Photographic Communications and a MS in Instructional Technology. For over 30 years he has been taking photos, he started with photos of people but found passion in the micro world. His work has been apart of multiple exhibits, it has been feature in scientific journals and magazines and Peres has talked bout his work on a tedxYouth (Its a good ted talk, I suggest watching it). Peres works at the Rochester institute of technology, in the school of photographic arts and science. He is a professor of biomedical photography and teaches photomicrography, biomedical photography and other classy that combine photography and biology. His latest work/passion has been taking photos of snowflakes but he has taken photos of a wide range of things.
His photos are mostly of medical things (tissue samples or microorganism) but he also takes photos of things like snowflakes and minerals. As a person who enjoys medical photos I focused on the tissue samples. All these pictures were taken using a special type of microscope that has a camera attachment. To take photos like this you need to find a portion of the sample that is nice to look at; the samples are small but when you use the microscope it takes a while to find the right spot. Unlike most other photography you can't change the perspective or lighting and if you have a bad sample you can't really change it. So because this technology is so new I can't really compare it to any other pieces of art from history, except for maybe the first drawing done using telescopes.
Michael Peres' pictures are of things that are not easily seen with the naked eye. By taking photos of tiny things he is trying to introduce people to a whole world of things that they can't really see but that is always around them. It's true that a lot of his work is to show cells and stuff for scientist but he shares his work with the public too. The underlying tone of his work is to introduce people to the beauty of science.
As a young adult Michael fell in love with photography but his parents wanted him to become a doctor. So as he studied biology he took photos of the samples he used in class. This really shaped what he would do. by combining his love of photography with the pressure to pursue medicine he was able to make art in way that was not really see before. A lot of his work now is of this he thinks is cool but he also takes photos for research papers and other scientific papers.
His photos are mostly of medical things (tissue samples or microorganism) but he also takes photos of things like snowflakes and minerals. As a person who enjoys medical photos I focused on the tissue samples. All these pictures were taken using a special type of microscope that has a camera attachment. To take photos like this you need to find a portion of the sample that is nice to look at; the samples are small but when you use the microscope it takes a while to find the right spot. Unlike most other photography you can't change the perspective or lighting and if you have a bad sample you can't really change it. So because this technology is so new I can't really compare it to any other pieces of art from history, except for maybe the first drawing done using telescopes.
Michael Peres' pictures are of things that are not easily seen with the naked eye. By taking photos of tiny things he is trying to introduce people to a whole world of things that they can't really see but that is always around them. It's true that a lot of his work is to show cells and stuff for scientist but he shares his work with the public too. The underlying tone of his work is to introduce people to the beauty of science.
As a young adult Michael fell in love with photography but his parents wanted him to become a doctor. So as he studied biology he took photos of the samples he used in class. This really shaped what he would do. by combining his love of photography with the pressure to pursue medicine he was able to make art in way that was not really see before. A lot of his work now is of this he thinks is cool but he also takes photos for research papers and other scientific papers.
First I would like to explain what each photo is. On the left Peres took a photo of an epiphyseal plate, which is basicly the protective cartilage at the end of long bones. My photo, on the right, is of arteries and veins. sadly my photo didn't come out as clear as Michaels but I think both pictures are capturing beautiful parts of the body that most people may never actually see. I like how in both pictures you can see trails of tissue that wrap around each other, which is something I found beautiful.
Both of these pictures are of cells. On the left Peres took pictures of human kidney cells while I took a Picture of cat lung cells. Both pictures are very similar in their subject. However my photo is taken much closer, if I had to guess my photo is about 4 time more zoomed in. The only other noticeable is my sample was stained differently resulting in blues and reds while his is only pink.
Epithelium
|
Cat Stomach |
Michaels photo, on the left is of the epithelium layer which is skin. My photo is a cross of a cats stomach. Skin cells and stomach cells are both rather elastic, that's why I think they look similar. Although our pictures are of different things I believe they look quite similar. They are different shades of red but that all depends on what type of stain you use when making the stain.
I like biology and science, so by taking these photos I'm trying to share the amazing world of tiny things. I understand not everyone has access to microscopes and slide but I am blessed which easy accessibility to expensive scientific equipment and I want to share that with people. Basically by taking these photos I am showing who I am, I am a person who loves blood and guts and stuff that is gross. I love these things because to me they are truly beautiful. They're so complex and awesome that I want others to see that beauty too.
All information and work by Michael peres was taken from his RIT staff page:
http://mrppph.cias.rit.edu/
All information and work by Michael peres was taken from his RIT staff page:
http://mrppph.cias.rit.edu/