Whilst retracing Dietrich’s journey I collected over 12,000 insect specimens, mostly flies. Why flies? It is the species like flies that are most abundant and have a short life span, that yield us more knowledge about the changing climate and our impact on it. Yet it is the iconic large mammals such as pandas that we think of first in these terms, due to their place an media environmental icons.

Back in the laboratory I began to experiment with using both scientific equipment and low-tech photographic equipment to create decidedly non-scientific imagery. These moody and emotive images sit in stark contrast to the scientific imagery I create for the Queensland museum in my volunteer work there. I see my works with insects as often acting as a unique portal connecting audiences beyond everyday readings of the local landscape into the vast variety and detail of our largely overlooked and unseen biosphere.