The Micropolitan Museum exhibits an unworldly spectrum visible only through the lens of a microscope. Painter Wim van Egmond photographs spectacular microscopic masterpieces with ethereal color palettes. To capture these hidden treasures, he uses a Zeiss Standard light microscope and an old Zeiss Photo-microscope. Several methods of illumination are employed: bright-field, dark-field, phase contrast, differential interference contrast, and Rheinberg illumination.
Van Egmond’s Insectarium offers such specimens as the iridescent butterfly wing, whose tiny scales possess a microscopic texture that refracts light. Here we find lavender blue and green.
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The delicate wing of the mosquito, on the other hand, is covered with ting feather-like structures. Deep greens, golds, and aquas are apparent.
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The Botanic Garden presents the vibrant red of grains of Lily pollen.
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The stem of the Mare’s Tail, an aquatic flowering plant, offers dazzling purples and violets.
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The pine needle is ablaze with dark blue, light blue, bright red, and orange.
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The Freshwater Collection offers such things as the common water-flea (Daphnia longispina), which displays a palette of blues, orange, and green.
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Green Algae (Micrasterias rotata) offer brilliant greens and blues.
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The water mite, a relative of spiders, is found in ponds and offers brilliant oranges and browns.
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The Marine Collection offers such creatures as the Obelia, a tiny relative of the jellyfish, with a brilliant yellow center.
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Red algae (Rhodophyta) sport a distinctive, deep red.
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Thanks to Wim van Egmond for inviting us into the astonishing world of microscopic color.
About the Author, Craig Conley
Website: http://www.OneLetterWords.com
Craig is an independent scholar and author of dozens of strange and unusual books, including a unicorn field guide and a dictionary of magic words. He also loves color: Prof. Oddfellow
