We were lucky to catch up with Craig Burrows recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Craig, thanks for joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

Since I started doing ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence (UVIVF) photography of flowers I’ve struggled with my work being misrepresented as ‘bee-vision’ even though that was never my intent. I’ve always wanted to preserve the scientific integrity of the photography by avoiding excessive post-production, avoiding inclusion of man-made fluorescent material, and working to avoid the narrative that my photography represents bee-vision.

This topic has been challenging as the concept really resonates with an audience and when so many posts and articles have already described it this way, it makes it nearly impossible to amend. There is still something to be gained when attention is drawn to the plight of native pollinators and how the insect world supports the human world, creating at least one positive outcome of this misunderstanding.

Recently, I’ve embraced the narrative in my own way, insisting that it never be described as insect vision itself, but as perhaps a way to imagine how insects might perceive the world and an expression of the allure flowers hold for them. In the end, this meeting-in-the-middle may prove to be the best possible outcome for everyone when it comes to my work.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been doing photography since around 2010, but it wasn’t until I started practicing UVIVF photography that my work got much attention. I was inspired by another photographer’s demonstration of UVIVF and it rapidly became the main body of my work. To date I have created imagery of hundreds of different species of plants with thousands of photos, making it probably the largest catalog of its kind in the world.

Since originally being presented by This Is Colossal, I have had my work published by National Geographic Magazine, licensed by Apple, and received several commissions, including some international corporations and thrilling on-site work in Hawaii and New Zealand. It has also been exhibited internationally and produced in a variety of publications and books.

While I have done event photography and product photography, I mostly paint myself as a botanical photographer whether working with UVIVF, infrared, conventional, or high-detail macroscopy. I seek to bring beauty to the science with careful lighting, composition, and the exploration of alternative ways of viewing unseen elements of nature in fashions that would be as welcome in a science textbook as on the wall of a gallery.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Through my art I have become familiar with and a proponent of the natural environment. Without the complex web of life the earth supports, humanity as it is cannot continue to exist, yet the same human activity is incredibly damaging to the wild ecology, so by continuing to grow and convert mountains and grasslands to concrete sprawls and farmland we are ultimately hurting ourselves.

One of the flaws in the way most humans interact (and I do not exempt myself from this) with the world is a blindness to nature outside of it being a pleasing green scene. Without plants, insects, even microbes, there would be no possibility of our existence. Because of these concerns I have always hoped the images I create, and the integrity with which I present them, would play a part in inspiring people to spend more time thinking about (and eventually falling in love with) plants in the same way I have.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think it is challenging for anyone outside of a specific creative group to understand how much work, effort, and skill actually goes into the practice. For that reason it can be a struggle for artists to continue their practice as the amount people are willing to pay or the time they are willing to wait for completion does not match the reality of actually completing the work. For artists there will always be a tug of war between the requirements of life and the drive to create and anything that can tilt the balance even slightly toward making creation possible has the potential to have a big impact.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cpburrows.com
• Instagram: @cpburrowsphoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cpburrowsphotography/
• Twitter: @CPBurrowsPhoto
• Other: Plant/nature companion content to go with my photography: https://www.instagram.com/cpburrowsplamps/ Craft/Fabrication account: https://www.instagram.com/cpburrowscraft/