BRIDGING WORLDS

ADAM NEUBA

//Born in Poland, Adam has been based in Paderborn, Germany since 1986. Having studied chemistry, he works as a scientist at a university and in his free time he interweaves his scientific explorations with artistic endeavours: he is an award-winning artistic photographer. We are pleased to share a beautiful set of photography of very small animals.

“Besides the natural sciences I have always been interested in art in any form. My photographic journey began about 13 years ago, with portrait photography. For a long while I was more of an ‘occasional snapper’ with no particular focus and I tried out lots of genres. A bit of landscape photography here, a spot of architecture there, until, finally, artistic close-up photography awakened my enthusiasm and became my passion. The artist and scientist in me are inseparably interwoven. Many aspects from both worlds are united in photography and enable me to take an alternative view of the world and to produce new links among elements of a scene. During this process, images arise that possess an aesthetic and a manner of expression of a novel kind, and thereby enable the beholder to partake in a novel emotional experience,” Adam says.

“A fine image is geometry, modulated by the Heart.”

Willy Ronis

What draws you to the arts?

“When I express myself as an artist I am like in an “other world “. You forget about time you forget about everything around you – at least for a few hours. When I look at the works of other artists I love to dive into “their worlds” – it’s magical.”

What do you like best about this project?

“It was the challenge of conceiving and implementing each photographic scene in a new way. When you work with animals like insects, even things that seem simple at first can become complicated. You often have to be creative and also find new solutions quickly to get to your goal.”

In Adam´s project “Nature Meets Technology” the emphasis is on small animals or non-living elements from the natural world, which he combines with industrially produced components. The goal is to present the contrast between nature and technology to the viewer and, simultaneously, to capture it photographically in a way that results in a harmonious aesthetic unity in each composition. The primary tools he employs for achieving this effect include the structures, forms, and colours of the chosen elements. By combining perspective, appropriate lighting, and a minimalist presentation, the artist creates emotionally engaging overall compositions. The clarity and organization of subjects with distinct lines and shapes often play a significant role in his creative process.

The actual image, the photograph itself, represents only the initial phase of Adam´s artistic work. In a subsequent step, he applies targeted digital post-processing to shape his final photoartistic vision. He makdes adjustments to light, shadows, and contrast with the aim of infusing the work with his unique perspective and enhancing its intended impact on the viewer.

In case you are wondering, as we did, all animals photographed were alive at the time. Adam explains the challenge this presented, “Animals are not professionals, they do what they want. You can’t force them to do anything…it just takes a lot of patience and tact as well as some knowledge of animal behaviour.”

Click on the photos to see a larger image in original dimensions. Some images may be cropped for layout.