
Christian Brockes’ fascination with arthropods started out as a chance encounter with one in his bathroom. Since then, he has documented many more species over the years, earning acclaim, partnerships, and an ambassadorship, for being a leading voice in macro photography as well as his creative expertise. Asian Photography had a conversation with him about techniques, patience, and purpose behind their highly stylised documentation of insect life. Excerpts:
Do you remember the first macro image you ever shot? What was it?
I started out doing portraits and business photos and had a 90mm macro lens, which I only used for its portrait capabilities. After finding a tiny jumping spider in my bathroom, I decided to use the macro lens for what it was originally intended for and was instantly fascinated by the interesting detail I was able to see in the photo – details which were hidden from the naked eye.
It sparked my interest and started my journey into the tiny world – always looking for new colours, forms, and textures.

What’s something people often misunderstand about macro photography?
To me, macro photography is like a window into that tiny world beneath our feet, which is generally and often overlooked. It is also a very powerful tool for conservation and to create attention to the world’s fascinating biodiversity.
However, macro photography is often featured less prominently in comparison to wildlife photography of bigger animals. People simply seem not to be aware of the wonderful things that are there to discover in and share from the tiny world.
Many people understand macro as only being photography at 1:1 magnification and above, but forget that also at these high magnifications there are stories to tell. Storytelling and composition can elevate macro photography even further.
Do you approach your photography more as documentation, art, or exploration?

Nowadays, I would like my macro photography to be seen as a mixture of stylised documentation. While I always emphasise on composition and also try to create a direct connection between the subject and the viewer, the thing I look for the most is the story: this can be a distinct behaviour of an insect, a hunting scene, mating, or any other interaction.
It is my wish to share my findings to create awareness and interest through these fascinating forms, colours, and features of the insects and spiders I photograph – hopefully leading to respect, which ultimately helps with conservation.
How do you balance patience and spontaneity when working with unpredictable subjects?
The trick is indeed to actually balance both: patience often rewards us with wonderful opportunities and scenes – but these happen spontaneously, so it is very important to be alert, have your setup ready and be able to control your camera blindly, when the moment comes.
I have one routine, where I stay at a promising spot for about an hour. Sometimes it is only 1 or 2 square metres. I adapted my photographic technique to align with this behaviour: I always use a flash and a diffuser, which gives me a highly mobile and compact setup and enables tack-sharp shots even during movements.
How do you see the future of macro evolving—AI, computational focus, mobile macro?
I think mobile macro is the way to go, but not necessarily with mobile phones. Smaller, real cameras, capable of reaching high magnifications while providing decent depth-of-field, would open up the field to many more people.

The latest generation of mobile phone flagships have remarkable macro features. I use mine from time to time and the results are better than what I captured with my first camera and macro lens.
AI is far from being able to create realistic insect and spider macros – you can spot the AI-generated images easily if you’re a biologist or a naturalist.
Computational in-camera features are a big time saver. My current camera, the OM-1 Mark II, has tons of those: ND filter, graded ND filter, High-Res Shot, modes for light painting, photographing stars, and many more.
My favourites are the focus bracketing and focus stacking modes, which allow me to create a focus bracket I later combine into one image with enhanced depth-of-field. It also speeds up my process.
What are you currently experimenting with or trying to learn next?

Right now, I am pretty satisfied with both my gear and technique when it comes to macro photography of insects and spiders at high magnifications.
I’ve recently favoured single shots over focus stacks more often, as it is all about getting that one specific moment. It also saves time during post-processing.
The next thing I am currently experimenting with is filming macro at high magnifications. Creating macro movies with the same quality as my photos is challenging, as the lighting approach is very different.
Is there a specific image that you want to be remembered by?
I have two personal favourites, which are also my best known photos from publications. One is an Acorn weevil (Curculio glandium) just about to take off and spreads its wings, and the other is a zig-zag sawfly larva that has eaten its distinct zig-zag pattern into an elm leaf.
I specialise on jumping spiders, and my two favourite species, both extremely colourful – one, Habronattus americanus, is from North America and one, Stenaelurillus lesserti, can be found in southern India – would be my personal holy grail and the ultimate macro portrait.
