We often think of scientists as the explorers of nature, but an Australian photographer is contesting this norm. In a series of photographs, taken and released by Christian Spencer, the wings of hummingbirds have been found to diffract light into small rainbows. Seen only when the birds are both in direct light and in flight, Spencer’s photos seem to capture a shear moment of magic. (1)
A Love Of Natural Photography
Born in Melbourne Australia, Christian Spencer was interested in nature and art from a young age. In 2000, Spencer made the leap to Brazil to capture new aspects of the natural world he had never seen previously. There he found himself fulfilled and consumed by the surrounding animals, foliage, and ecosystems. Using paint, film, and photography, Spencer has created numerous works over his career in Brazil that focus on the inter-relationship between macro and micro parts of nature. (2) He has captured everything from pumpkin toadlets to false coral snakes and won several international photo competitions in the process. To date, Christian Spencer lives within Brazil’s Itatiaia National Park in Rio de Janeiro and continues to create truly unique ‘nature-centered’ art without technological manipulation. (1, 2)
A Hummingbird’s Secret
Spencer appears to be first to have both noticed and captured a unique hummingbird secret: a rainbow of colors can be created when light shines through their wings. Particularly, Spencer has found this among black and white Jacobin and hermit hummingbirds, which he has followed for years in the Brazilian rainforest. This phenomenon, which Spencer refers to a ‘Winged Prism’ in his photography series, has also been caught by him on film. In an award-winning 2011 short film, called The Dance of Time, Spencer shows the rainbow wings of the hummingbirds light up and set to music. How exactly Spencer obtained these images is unclear, as hummingbirds are elusive and notoriously hard to capture on film, but all his efforts have been sure to be worth the beauty of his photos! (1)
Winged Prism Met With Acclaim
In addition to being met with a thrall of likes and comments on social media, Spencer’s photo series of Winged Prism has met acclaim in the art industry as well. At the Museum of Modern Art in Resende RJ Brazil, Spencer took home a cultural prize for the photographs. Fans also ran in droves to the Spencer Christian website to order fine print versions of the mesmerizing photo series. To date, prints continue to be available on Spencer’s website.
Beyond being visually stunning, the success of these photos had been upheld by their true natural quality. Spencer did not filter, manipulate, or carry out post-production techniques on the photographs. The effect of light hitting the birds’ wings and filtering through as color is indeed a sight from real-life. In an age of technology, digitally unmanipulated photographs are rare and must be appreciated for being so (or else photography as an art may be lost).
If you are interested in seeing any of Christian Spencer’s other animal encounters, follow him on Instagram for his latest photos and paintings of nature.
