Inside the Macro-Morgue of Nature’s Lost Tiny Gods

If a bug dies alone in the forest and no one’s around to hear it, Levon Bliss will still find a way to immortalize it, in 10,000 razor-sharp frames, stitched together like a tiny elegy with wings. Extinct & Endangered isn’t just macro photography; it’s entomological resurrection. A three-year collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History, the series inflates lost and vanishing insects to billboard scale, turning whisper-sized beetles into cathedral-window portraits that demand a kind of reverence. It’s a blowfly-as-Botticelli moment. You’re not so much looking at a picture as being confronted by a six-legged reckoning.

Bliss’s process is less photo shoot, more pilgrimage. We’re talking a camera rail that moves seven microns per shot, 10,000 images per bug, and weeks of image-stacking alchemy to resurrect a creature that may already be gone. Each insect becomes a symphony of detail and patience, thoraxes lit like Renaissance cheekbones, mandibles smoothed to myth. This is what happens when a sports photographer trades in Ronaldo for a parasitic wasp. The intensity stays. The subject just gets a few more legs and zero endorsement deals.

But scale isn't the only trick here. These prints sneak up on people. Kids gasp. Grownups lean in, noses inches from antennae. They realize too late they're eye-to-compound-eye with a species that may never flutter again. Bliss knows the shock is part of the seduction. He wants you to care, but not through guilt or doomscroll stats. Through wonder. These aren’t infographics; they’re intimate portraits of planetary collapse. You get three metres of butterfly wing, and somewhere beneath the awe, a low hum of panic.

Still, there’s beauty. Always. That’s the subversive bit. Bliss wraps the apocalypse in jewel tones and gossamer, making extinction too gorgeous to ignore. This isn’t activism wrapped in art. It’s art that becomes activism the second you fall under its spell. From TED Talks to museum walls to microscopic seeds and amber fossils, his macro eye keeps zooming out on humanity. And what does it see? A species that forgot to notice the world under its feet. Until someone made it unmissable.

I. CONCEPT & COLLABORATION

Your Extinct & Endangered series is described as the culmination of three years’ work in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History. How did this partnership come about, and what was it like working with the museum’s collection for this project?

Extinct & Endangered is a project that I had been thinking about for a while, but there are only a few museums in the world with collections extensive enough to provide all the specimens I required. The American Museum of Natural History has a huge historical collection and was an obvious choice to partner with. I pitched the concept to them and they were interested immediately. I couldn't have produced this project without their enthusiasm and generosity.

II. PROCESS & TECHNIQUE

Your photographic process captures extraordinary detail by merging over 10,000 individual images through a bespoke microscope rig. Can you describe how this photo-stacking technique works and how it evolved for the Extinct & Endangered project?

The majority of the images were made from over 10,000 separate shots per insect and took approximately three weeks each to create. I usually work on three images at once. While I photograph one insect, I have a bank of computers processing the images from the previous week’s shoot, while other computers are used for retouching and building the image I photographed two weeks prior. I use a photo-stacking technique to obtain full focus throughout. The camera is placed on an electronic rail that moves forward 7 microns between each shot, capturing a tiny slice of focus each time. There could be 25 different sections for one insect, and each section may consist of over 500 individual shots. Once each section is fully focused, they’re joined together like a jigsaw puzzle to produce the final image.

III. PUBLIC REACTION & IMPACT

Your giant prints allow viewers to inspect insects in microscopic detail. What reactions have you observed from audiences seeing these enlarged insects, and how do you hope the scale and clarity of the images will change public perceptions of these creatures?

The overwhelming response is positive. There was always a possibility the audience would be repelled by a 3-metre Blow Fly, but they seem engaged and interested. They lean in and appreciate all the detail. Children in particular seem to love the giant insects, which is great to see, as they are the generation most affected by insect decline and biodiversity loss. If we can provide education on these subjects early, hopefully they can lead us toward a more positive path.

Many of the insects in the series are critically endangered or already extinct. How do you feel about working with specimens of species that “will never fly again,” and what does it mean to you to give these insects a spotlight in your work?

It's a humbling experience handling a specimen that will never fly or crawl again, primarily due to human impact. Viewing an extinct specimen makes the insect decline and biodiversity issues real; they’re no longer theoretical. There is a Nine-Spotted Ladybug in the exhibition that will be familiar to many people, and it’s a shock to see it included in a project on extinction. But that’s a good thing. If it jolts people into action, then the project is a success.

IV. PURPOSE & PHILOSOPHY

The Extinct & Endangered project explicitly addresses insect decline and biodiversity loss. In your view, how can photography and art raise awareness about such environmental issues, and what responses have you seen to these themes in your work?

Photography is a form of communication. It’s direct and can be very effective. The Extinct & Endangered show is a mixture of entertainment and education. The audience receives a unique visual experience standing in front of these giant prints, and once they’re engaged, we can then have a conversation about the serious subject of insect decline. Hopefully it encourages appreciation for these tiny creatures. We can't care about something until we understand it.

Your work has been described as a “beautiful marriage of art and science.” How do you balance aesthetic expression with scientific accuracy and educational goals when you create your images?

The images have to be authentic and scientifically accurate, especially when displayed in a museum like the American Museum of Natural History. They're used as educational resources, particularly in schools, so they must be anatomically correct. I try to bring in an artistic angle through the lighting. In this project it was much more subtle and ethereal than in my previous work, but I felt it suited the subject matter.

V. CAREER & EVOLUTION

You began your career in advertising and sports photography but later shifted to macrophotography of natural specimens. What inspired that transition, and what lessons from your earlier commercial work have shaped your approach to photographing insects and other small subjects?

Photographing small specimens is not that different from photographing large ones. Light still works the same way; the subject matter is just smaller. If you look back at my lighting for many of my human subjects, you can see a similar style applied to my insect images.

Besides insects, you’ve also photographed seeds, fruits, amber, and other natural curiosities. What guides your choice of subjects across these projects, and how do these different series relate to each other in your overall vision?

It's pretty simple: just work on subjects you’re interested in. If you don’t have an affection for the subject, it’s hard to create significant work. The world is full of fascinating subject matter when viewed closely on a macro scale. Working in high magnification changes how you see the environment and makes the world a much more interesting place.

VI. VISIBILITY & OUTREACH

Your photographs have been featured on international magazine covers (Time, The New York Times) and you’ve given TED Talks viewed by millions. How have these high-profile platforms influenced the reach and impact of your work and its conservation message?

Having an online presence is essential for any project’s success these days, which is why I build bespoke websites for each one. Platforms like TED help amplify the message and are very useful, but maintaining that presence is time-consuming and delicate. As soon as you take your foot off the gas, the algorithms work against you. That’s just the way the world works now. It’s noisy, and you have to find ways to cut through and reach your audience.