I’ve Spent The Past Year Photographing Crystalized Substances Through My Microscope

Here’s a small collection of images I’ve produced at home over the past year. Each is a polarized light microscopy panorama. I have an old Olympus microscope purchased on ebay which I’ve attached my DSLR to with a home-made rig. I collect, and then through various means, crystalize substances to photograph.

Each substance is unique in its forms and each has several different expressions dependent on the conditions during crystallization. The colors are the result of polarizing filters; just like you’d find in your sunglasses. Polarized light interacts with the birefringent properties of the crystals, creating a myriad of colorful landscapes.

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L Glutamine and Beta Alanine 7

MDMA 1

Ascorbic Acid 1

Beta Alanine 1

Epsom Salt 1

Sulfamic Acid 1

L Glutamine and Beta Alanine 5

L Glutamine and Beta Alanine 6

Menthol 5

Poppy Seed in Menthol

Sulfamic Acid 2