How
my passion for visualising stories by using a microscope,
became bigger than I could ever dream of.
by mAURICE MIKKERS
In the beginning of 2015 I started the project called “Imaginarium of Tears”, an ongoing photography tear collection with personal stories at its heart. which started around the time I posted the article Photographs that reveal the true beauty of tears which now is a bit outdated. The project evolved, and a lot has happend since. In this new article I hope to give you more detailed view of my journey and story, and more insights on how the project evolved.
It all started at the 10th of januari 2015, when I was working on the crystallisation of Diclofenac. When walking back from the kitchen to my desk with the crystalised Diclofenac slide. I bumped my toe really hard against the table. So while in pain, there was was only one thing on my mind; Capturing the tear rolling down my cheek with a micro pipet. Right after it was captured, I dispensed the tear it into little drops on a microscope slide. Hoping it would maybe also crystallise just like my other subjects and show its true beauty.
At that moment I had no clue what technique I had to use to make the tear visible. So I tried several light techniques underneath my microscope. The first technique was the bright-field technique (the one you often use in high school). Next up was the polarisation technique (which I was using for my other crystallisation images). Both gave very beautiful and different results, but something was missing. So I installed the dark-field condensor in my microscope to see what it would do.
*This tear is a reproduction of the moment, showing you the different microscope techniques as described above. Giving you more insight on the actual first moment of exploring the tear under the microscope.
I still remember that moment when I was looking trough the microscope, after the the dark-field condensor was installed. I was stunned, the tear lid right up on the dark background. It was shaped like a little planet, and its landscape showed beautiful patterns and shapes. At that moment I was surprised and “hooked” at the same time. And felt like a ‘planet tear ☺’.
* * *