Photographer

Liv Spyrou

Finalist in

Upper Secondary Category

Written Statement

I chose to approach the theme of fragility by capturing the anatomy of common insects found in their natural habitat. The inspiration for photographing butterflies came from a photo that I managed to take during christmas in Hawaii (2018).

I noticed the details of the butterfly’s wings and how delicate they looked. I decided to take more photos like this – making the wings the subject of fragility. I decided to add bees to my folio as their wings seem to show an elegance that the butterfly’s wings did not. I edited my photos in black and white because I believe it really brought out the details of the wings. Black and white photos represent the theme of fragility the best.

I went to the Melbourne zoo butterfly enclosure to take the photos of my butterflies. My bee portrait was taken in my front garden on a lavender plant that I have. I used a long lense to shoot these on my camera and cropped the photos in a certain way to keep the insect the main focus of the image. Although in focus, I shot other objects from a certain angle with the insects to show a comparison of size or detail (eg: bee = small and fragile when compared with large lavender shot from high angle).

My photos represent the theme of fragility when shown together, visible through the captured details in both of the insect’s wings. It is also captured in other parts of their anatomy such as the butterfly’s eyes (landscape shot) and when the insects are shot in comparison with larger, more dominanting subjects.