‘Nature surprises us — looking with care changes our understanding of the world’

Anand A. Varma is a science photographer featured regularly in National Geographic. Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke, Varma discusses the gift of ‘slow looking’ at nature:
I started my career by studying integrative biology, a multi-disciplinary field within the life sciences, combining evolution, natural history, ecology and genetics. My undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, gave me the foundation for my work today. I didn’t set out to be a science photographer — I thought of becoming an ecologist, perhaps working on coral reefs and biodiversity. But during a summer job, I worked for a photographer and realised I could also do what I wanted to as a science photographer and not only as a biologist. I started in 2006 — by 2011, I made the full transition from academia to science photography. One of the most special projects I have worked on focused on mind controlling parasites or ‘mindsuckers’.

THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE NECTAR: Anand A. Varma’s picture of a hummingbird, captured with a camera that can take 3,000 frames per second, flying to a glass dish to dip its tongue in nectar, was showcased in National Geographic. Picture by: Anand A. Varma
The biology I photographed was utterly surprising — it reshaped how I thought about evolution. I also began to develop my aesthetic of creating new images of nature. I partnered with research labs and experts who had access to these parasites — thus, I studied a sheep crab that gets infected by a barnacle, crickets that get infected by worms that even force the former to drown themselves, etc. I went to the Amazon in Brazil to find an ant species that gets infected by a fungus which makes them climb trees where the fungus can proliferate. I also travelled with researchers to Costa Rica to study a spider that gets attacked by a wasp larva which makes the spider build it a web that protects the parasite. This project posed many challenges, ranging from the discipline of observation in a lab to travelling to unknown habitats, seeking these species and trying to understand their lives.


One of the longest projects I’ve worked on explored the world of hummingbirds. In 2007, I met a researcher who was having difficulty photographing these birds to study their flight. I volunteered to help — and that led to a project with National Geographic. There are very few photos of hummingbirds that scientifically study their incredible aerodynamic and movement patterns. I worked on this with Chris Clark, the ornithologist, and went to Cuba where I found the Cuban bee hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world, a tiny creature which weighs about two grams.

I went to Colombia and found woodstars with tails about thrice as large as their bodies. To see these birds flying feeding from flowers and shaking off rain was absolutely incredible. Its beauty aside, nature is full of surprises. I work with honeybees and made a video to document how they transform from egg to adult — it had never been done before and the most astonishing moment was seeing this pupa bee, which hadn’t yet developed any colours and was almost transparent, having clouds of tissue move to its head as it grew over a week. That process was stunning to observe.

NOT ALWAYS A WARM HUG: Nature sees strange battles of existence between parasites and other beings, as Anand Varma’s ‘Mindsuckers’ series showed. Here, a ladybug guards a parasitic wasp cocoon which emerged from its own being and turned its host into a bodyguard. Picture by: Anand A. Varma


I also worked with jellyfish but something went wrong in their tank and the jellyfish got ill. They were so damaged, their bodies actually fell to pieces. I was so shocked, I avoided the tank for a few days. Finally, I picked up my nerve and went to look — and I found that small pieces of the jellyfish were pulsing. They were also looking a bit more whole. I let them be and soon, some of the pieces regained the shape of the original jellyfish, perhaps lacking a few parts but growing back and surviving.

A BEE’S BEING: Varma’s images of bees growing, working and tackling challenges like pesticides portray a fascinating and threatened world. Picture by: Anand A. Varma


There is amazing complexity in nature — we need to take the time to look. Looking closely at the natural world is a never-ending reward, given the diverse beings and the dazzling textures, colours and patterns you find. Shari Tishman, a researcher at Harvard, wrote a book called ‘Slow Looking’. Her work explores how to optimally structure your attention, which mirrors my own philosophy. I’d borrow from Tishman to describe what I do as ‘slow looking’ — to look carefully at nature, with gradualness and attention, can lead you to entirely new understandings of the world.

All the pictures I’ve taken have been very challenging. Perhaps the hardest was of a hummingbird licking artificial nectar — in the photo, you can actually see the hummingbird’s tongue reaching a glass dish. I got a customised glass dish made, which had to be placed on a rod that was out of view — this itself was an incredibly intricate process but the hardest part was convincing the hummingbirds to partake of the nectar at the right point. They’d figured out that if they moved a few millimeters away, they could access the glass dish in an easier way. But finally, after many attempts, one hummingbird flew straight up to the dish, its wings in frame, even and sharp, gracing me with a picture that I will always remember. figured out that if they moved a few millimeters away, they could access the glass dish in an easier way. But finally, after many attempts, one hummingbird flew straight up to the dish, its wings in frame, even and sharp, gracing me with a picture that I will always remember.