BUTTERFLY EFFECT

Wildlife photographer and artist Jake Mosher reveals the unique process behind his intricate artwork

HAVING GROWN UP among unbroken woodland in northern Vermont, Jake Mosher has always been passionate about nature, but it wasn’t until he left his job as an explosives engineer and moved to Montana that his desire to capture it came to the fore. Since then, he’s won numerous awards including the prestigious People’s Choice award at the Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year sponsored by the Royal Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Jake’s latest collection, Metamorphosis, is inspired by the intricate patterns on butterfly and moth wings, observed through his camera at high magnification. Here he tells us more.

How would you describe your style?

I entwine photography and art to showcase natural beauty in a way that’s never been seen before – like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon.

What inspired you to make butterflies and moths the focus of your latest work?

The colours and the brilliance of their wings – it’s a miracle of nature. I wanted to find a unique way to capture their incredible beauty. I like to call this work Metamorphosis art.

Talk us through how you create your artwork…

I start by taking hundreds of highly magnified images of small sections of butterfly and moth wings, moving the camera a minuscule amount each time. Once my editing programme has stacked them into a single image, I work with the pictures to create a kaleidoscope-like effect.

What’s been your career highlight so far?

A few years ago one of my pieces was featured as Photo of the Week in The Sunday Times and has since been publicised around the world.

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