Making it Big

Macro photography is the art of capturing small organisms in magnified frames. Alok Sheode chose to zoom in on the fascinating geometrical patterns and movements of insects.

By M.A. Siraj

'Yuck’ is the word most humans utter at the sight of insects. But not Alok Sheode of Buldhana. He is the man who gave up his teaching job at a college to launch a career in capturing insects on camera and documenting them. Sheode has so far documented 225 of insects and made 226 public video presentations making people aware of the benefits that accrue to humanity from billions of these winged creatures.

He developed an interest in the tiny creatures of Nature while teaching English at junior college for 28 years. He began to record videos of insects. Most people found his passionate engagement with insects weird. Yet nothing would deter him from making forays into gardens, jungles, hills humming with beehives, and marshes, all in pursuit of the tiny organisms. He could capture them in all postures such as courting, mating, flirting, egg-laying, hatching, feeding the young ones, having a ride over waves in rivers, helping each other, borings through the stems, moulting, and even while waging territorial fights against their rivals. He could take a cricket on the fingertip of one hand and take a snap from the camera held on the other.

Be it mantises, wasps, honey bees, dragon flies, locusts, bugs, grasshopers, wasps, moths, lac-scales, or beetles, Sheode’s lenses captured them in their myriad moods. He could make out if they are thirsty, feeling threatened from predators or preying, or fleeing from bushfires. “Yes, insects have sentiments; they emote and can perceive danger coming their way. They can be fearful, pensive, sombre, tense, gloomy, reflective, aggressive or joyful just like we humans”, he adds.

Macro photography is the art of capturing small organisms in magnified frames in order to highlight the minutest parts. Sheode chose to hone his skill with cameras that can magnify the subject. Such cameras allow distances that will not scare away the subject, in Sheode’s case insects. “The diverse and fascinating geometrical patterns on their chitinous bodies are fodder for the imagination”, he comments. Sheode says insects play a very significant role in imparting sustainability of the environment. All insects are not pests as is generally believed. Humans, by their nature, only value honeybees, silkworms, fireflies, or butterflies. Honeybees are respected for the floral nectar that they turn into honey, whereas fireflies and butterflies are liked for their aesthetic value. Silkworms are of course darlings among the insects for the beautiful yarn their yield.

But beyond these, they are candidates for mass extinction. Most birds prey on insects which provide them protein so essential for their eggs. Birds disappear from places where repellents are used or fumigation is done frequently as it renders the environment barren of their prey. Bats eat mosquitoes; pigeons and a variety of birds peck on termites; honeybees and butterflies are pollinating agents; fireflies lit up jungles in dark nights; Lac-scales produce lac that goes into manufacturing of varnishes and dyes. Several insects are even prized delicacies for tribals and several other communities. Sheode suggests that a census of those insects for which India is the sole habitat, is imperative. “Without insects our environment will lose much of its attraction for several reptiles, mammals and amphibians who feed upon them and add colour and flavour to the world we share with them,” he concludes.