The beauty of the lepidoptera is matched by their dramatic life cycle: caterpillars pupate and emerge as winged adults, staggering in their variety. Emmet Gowin makes mosaics of living moths—nocturnal cousins to the butterflies—in which the normally austere genre of typological photography undergoes metamorphosis, too. The portraits are made by lamplight in the rainforest. Rather than visually mimicking scientific method (or the taxonomist’s case of pinned specimens) by showing each species in matching position against a bare surface, Gowin lets the moths alight upon inkjet printouts he brings along. His backdrops showcase some of humanity’s boldest displays: details of ornament, Leonardo’s handwriting, canvases by van Gogh. Each grid (such as this one, from Bolivia) unites twenty-five transitory marriages between nature and culture.
Emmet Gowin, Mariposas Nocturnas: Index #44, Bolivia, 2011. Inkjet print, 13 5/8 x 9 1/2 in. (34.61 x 24.13 cm). Gift of Emmet and Edith Gowin, 2015.143.