Art Series: Wild Bees on Flowering Plants
Photography by Johnny Sanchez
Artist Statement
Due to the challenges of traveling during a global pandemic, many people have decided to forgo adventures that would have taken them to vast landscapes – places like seaside cliffs or mountain valleys, where scale is a difficult thing to fathom. This photo series presents another portrayal of the challenge of scale – albeit on the opposite end of the size spectrum – by depicting multiple species of wild bees that remind the viewer that scale is a matter of perspective. As each photo moves increasingly closer to the subjects, the viewer is forced eye-to-eye with pollinators that they may otherwise miss. By doing this, the piece urges viewers to take action to conserve and protect pollinators for their beauty and complexity as well as the integral part they play in our backyards, farms, and greater ecosystems.
Captured mid-flight, a bee moves in to land on a pussy willow catkin in early Spring at the Littlefield Garden. Shot with a Laowa 100mm lens, f/3.2, shutter speed, 1/350, ISO 300.
Demonstrating that “up” and “down” are also matters of perspective, a bee visits a flower at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Shot with a Laowa 100mm lens, f/3.2. shutter speed, 1/400, ISO 300.
A bee rests on a lavender blossom at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Shot with a Laowa 100mm lens, f/3.2. shutter speed, 1/400, ISO 200.
A 5x magnification, one stares into the eyes of a pollen-dusted bee as it poses on a flower. Shot with a Laowa 24mm lens, f/3.2, shutter speed, 1/400, ISO 200.