Japanese photographer Takuya Ishiguro has dedicated his career to revealing the strange and wonderful world that exists just beneath our feet, capturing the hidden lives of insects through innovative macro photography techniques. His work showcases the kaleidoscopic creatures with brilliant colors and spectacular behaviors that populate the insect kingdom, a realm so tiny it often goes unnoticed by the human eye.
Several years ago, Ishiguro modified his camera equipment by adding a magnifying lens between the sensor and the main lens, a delicate process that required precise positioning to maintain image quality. Any misalignment of the components would have ruined the image quality entirely. Once he perfected his setup, however, he was able to capture the daily lives of insects that inhabit the lakes and fields around his home in Osaki, Japan.
This new perspective has inspired what Ishiguro describes as "a profound respect for nature's ingenuity." Through his lens, he discovered that these invertebrates demonstrate remarkable creativity when foraging for food, mating, or excavating to build their shelters. His observations led him to view insects not merely as specimens, but as "beings who live alongside us."
One of his most striking images features a butterfly dragonfly whose wings appear golden or translucent depending on the viewing angle. To reveal the full spectrum of its colors, Ishiguro waited on the shores of Lake Kejonuma in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, until the insect flew nearby and its wings perfectly reflected both his lighting and the sunlight. The patience required for such shots often demands multiple field visits – one image of a morning dew-covered dragonfly taking a moment to rest required five separate trips before all conditions aligned properly.
Ishiguro's portfolio reveals the diverse hunting and survival strategies of various species. He captured digger wasps, which hunt grasshoppers and cicadas to feed their young while primarily sustaining themselves on flower nectar. In urban areas like Nikaho, Japan, this nectar often comes from the Cayratia japonica vine. His photographs show these methodical creatures constructing their nests by shaping small balls of mud and transporting them to their future nesting sites, repeating the process until the structure is complete.
The photographer has documented the opportunistic behavior of wood ants, which he frequently observed on streets and paths around his home carrying butterfly and moth larvae to their nests. However, these versatile insects will just as readily settle for a tiny crustacean when the opportunity arises. He also captured megachilid bees, a family of stocky bees that use their sharp mandibles to cut small pieces of leaves for nest construction. Ishiguro calls these insects "nature's little engineers."
Some of his most dramatic images showcase predator-prey relationships in the insect world. One photograph captures a spider paralyzing its eight-legged prey before transporting it to a location where it can dig a burrow to enjoy its meal. Another shows an Asian giant mantis, which despite measuring no more than nine centimeters long, will eat almost anything it can catch. Using its powerful front legs, the mantis strikes quickly to capture prey – in this case, a lizard – and immediately begins devouring it.
Ishiguro's work also captures quieter moments in the insect world, such as morning dew-covered flies resting in the first light of day, or hummingbird moths passing in front of his lens during early morning photo sessions in fields near Osaki while searching for nectar. These images demonstrate that the microscopic world around us is filled with both dramatic action and peaceful interludes, revealing a complex ecosystem that exists largely unnoticed at our feet.
