Imago by Claudia Fährenkemper is a long‑term series begun in 1996 in Bonn, Germany, presenting scanning electron microscope portraits of insect heads—primarily beetles—as monumental black‑and‑white photographs. By enlarging beings that elude unaided sight, the project invites comparative vision—placing human and insect physiognomies on more equal terms. It also interrogates the status of photographic evidence: the pictures hover between document and apparition, cultivating an ambivalence of beauty and uncanniness that recalls both New Vision experiments and threads of Subjective Photography.
Visually, we encounter isolated "portraits" cropped as busts against a deep black ground. Heads are often shown from slightly above and behind, bringing the eyes and mouthparts forward while suspending the body in a placeless void.
Technically speaking, the series relies on photomicrography with a scanning electron microscope at the Zoological Research Institute and Museum Alexander Koenig in Bonn. Specimens are prepared, dried, and coated with a wafer‑thin layer of gold to conduct the electron beam; magnifications typically range from roughly 25× to 3000×. Fährenkemper then bridges digital capture and analogue output: the SEM image is recorded onto 6×7 cm black‑and‑white roll film via an attached camera and printed as gelatin-silver enlargements at 50 × 60 cm. Her experimental settings prioritize high contrast and broad tonal range, shaping the sculptural relief.
Imago is widely regarded as an extension of typological method into the microcosm, often discussed alongside Karl Blossfeldt and New Vision precedents. Key showings include Kunstmuseum Bonn (2007), Musée de l'Elysée's "Natura Photographica" (1999), Rencontres d'Arles (2006), Museum für Fotografie, Berlin (2010), and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto (2020); the bilingual monograph "IMAGO – Insect Portraits" (2008) supported its dissemination. Works entered collections such as the National Gallery of Canada and Musée de l'Elysée; recognition includes the Excellent Photographer Award, Pingyao (2016), and a No Limit Award nomination, Arles (2006). The project informed Fährenkemper's later series Armor, extending her comparative inquiry across scales.
