Bugs over bears: Alta. photographer zooms in on tiniest creatures

"I don't go for the big boys," Dara Ojo says of his photography subjects.

The mayfly and damselfly are his favourites to shoot in Canada, but crop spiders in China represent the start of the 33-year-old's macro photography journey, and treehoppers in Costa Rica have been an all-time favourite.

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His subjects are small, yes, but still fearsome to a number of people.

"Most people… just see bugs as bugs. Like, they're bugging me," Dara commented in a recent interview with CTV News Edmonton.

"The coyote, you can actually see what he looks like, or can also see what a bear looks like. Most people can't see what an insect looks like with their naked eyes. So (I'm) able to show people what they look like so people can also look at them like they're coyotes."

A bug found at the University of Alberta Botanic Garden on July 3, 2024. (Credit: Dara Ojo)

Dara, bored while living in China during the earliest COVID-19 restrictions, first began photographing birds.

When a friend suggested he search for even smaller subjects, Dara found a whole new "world."

"Most of the time (bugs) do have character. They look like they're smiling sometimes; they look like they are grumpy sometimes," he said.

His most viral photo is of a longhorn beetle that some say looks like Darth Vader or a Transformer, which was recognized at the UN Conference of Biodiversity and showcased by Adobe’s Lightroom.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Dara Ojo (@explorewithdara)

"It actually made me very happy because I think at that time, I had like 1,000 followers on Instagram and I was just doing it because I loved it. And within 24 hours, I was at 5,000. And then it kept growing to 10,000," he recalled.

"A little percentage of people of colour do this. It's just good representation that I really like."

Dara says followers have thanked him for opening their eyes to the beauty of some of Earth's smallest creatures.

"It makes me feel accomplished because that's exactly why I'm doing it. When people see the beauty, they end up conserving it. They don't just step, squash."

He encourages other potential photographers to explore their interest.

"You don't have to have what I have to start. When I started, I used to bring this can with kitchen rolls to make my own diffuser. It wasn't the best but I could go by it."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa