Photographer Adam Xu

Updated:2011-10-25 12:36

By Lu Yanyu (chinadaily.com.cn)

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Adam Xu, 29, a Chinese professional photographer currently living in California, the US, specializes in shooting pictures of insects, who took to it in 2008 and has been addicted to the microcosm ever since.

Adam Xu poses with his camera.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

"For a long period of time, I had been perplexed, because I wanted to shoot something different, something original and intriguing, other than people and scenery pictures everyone else shoots, until one day when I came across a selection of insects'pictures by a western photographer online, I was shocked to discover that insects could look so breathtakingly delicate and lifelike in photos." Adam recalled.

"It reminds me that I could combine my curiosity in insects with my camera because camera lens seems to be the best tool to present the mysterious insects'world before our eyes,thanks to the increasingly hightened resolution."

Being observant by nature, Adam has been an insect lover since he was a little boy, and he believes that it is possible the micro-world of insects has a complete set of rules to guide and direct their members.

"Although we live together with insects on the planet, we know so little about their world, and I do hope that people get to know about them through my camera lens." he said. "Plus, insects are cute and beautiful and I hope my photos help to enrich people's knowledge upon insects."

But shooting insects is not always an easy job to fulfill, as sometimes they are hard to locate. Adam said that sometimes he just goes to each corner of his yard, which has served as a convenient location for shooting before, and observes the insects there. In their natural habitat, they act as free models for him. But many other times, he has to travel afar to find an ideal place to finish his work.

"Timing is quite important for shooting insects", Adam said, "Quite often, I have to travel to remote destinations as early as 3 am in cold winter, when it is still dim before dawn, because insects are usually static before the sun rises and thus I can take pictures more easily. But for other dynamic pictures, I usually have to shoot under the scorching sun as well as in the middle of the night, because their eating and mating habits take place in the daylight and, on another hand, for example, cicadas' transformations, usually happen at night. "

With shooting insects pictures filling a big part of his life, Adam says he will continue to probe his "mircocosmos" through his camera lens in the US.

Please log on http://adamxu.poco.cn to get more information of Adam's pictures. And write to：axmicro@hotmail.com to contact the photographer.