Since spring 2017, I have been examining fruits and vegetables purchased from markets and grocery stores throughout New York City using a dissecting microscope and unconventional lighting techniques. Life Textures III is an ongoing series that explores the microscopic landscapes embedded within everyday produce. The project began with a blood orange purchased in the Meatpacking District. After several days of intentional exposure to decay, I cut the fruit open and began imaging its interior using an Olympus dissecting microscope, a Canon Mark III camera, and custom lighting methods developed through my art practice.
These micro-landscapes—visible for only a brief window of time—are inherently ephemeral. By capturing forms that exist for just a few days, the work reflects on the transient nature of human existence and its fundamental dependency on food. How many blood oranges are harvested, consumed, and discarded each year? How many tomatoes, or other fruits and vegetables, follow the same cycle? By isolating a single specimen from millions circulating globally and freezing its micro-portrait in time, I construct an allegory of individuality and impermanence. Lost among countless others, we too disappear within space and time as we drift farther from the magnifying lens of the universe.
Through Life Textures III, my close observations have deepened my awareness of the delicate complexity, diversity, and beauty of Earth’s superorganism. It is my hope that this heightened attention will transfer to the viewer, encouraging a renewed sense of care and curiosity toward the living systems that sustain us.
All images are minimally processed, shot in RAW format without color correction, and can be printed at any scale while preserving high resolution.
All prints are Limited Edition of 10
Life Textures/Fig 0.1, Digital Print, 2018