Chemical Education Today
NCW 2001: Celebrating Chemistry and Art
Communicating Science through Photography by Felice Frankel
A while ago, a colleague asked me why I was willing to give away my “secrets” in my upcoming book, Envisioning Science (1). I remember giggling to myself. The guide for researchers and students describing my techniques of making science images is filled with ideas to improve the visual communication of research, yet I would hardly consider any of the ideas as secrets. There are no secrets in photography, just logical thinking. For example, as you will see in the next pages, I suggest that the researcher and student take a bit more care in choosing the samples they wish to photograph for journal submissions or for presentations. It makes more sense to use material that is in good condition. The first-time viewer will see your picture as a whole—imperfections and all—and will not mentally delete the imperfections, as you do. In addition, although many researchers photograph actual samples from their experiments, I’ve found that samples prepared specifically for the photograph improve the visual expression of the work, resulting in a simpler, clearer representation of the science. Thinking about what to include in that sample (and what is not necessary) will help you determine for yourself which components are essential elements of the experiment and may ultimately clarify your thinking about the science.
Photographing Small Things
Emphasize the Point of the Work Images 1A and 1B (below) show two different samples of patterned surfaces. In both images, the water “drops” wet the hydrophilic surface until the drops reach the hydrophobic-etched lines, where they stop spreading. The researchers prepared the sample and photographed 1A. Then we redesigned the sample to produce photograph 1B. The etched lines in 1B form a more interesting grid pattern and, by coloring the water with fluorescing dyes, we brought attention to the point of the experiment––the water drops stop at the lines. The photograph succeeds on two levels: it is visually compelling (and not unimportantly, in focus) and it is a clearer representation of the chemistry.
Examples from Current Research Three examples are presented here, each illustrating an important point in the work of a research colleague and each using a different technique. I have written a few words describing each scenario, but you will probably “see” the point from the photographs before you read the words. Three methods of photography serve as illustrations of my “thesis”. Each is illustrated in Envisioning Science: photographing small things (from chapter 5), photographing through a stereomicroscope (from chapter 6), and photographing with a compound microscope (from chapter 7).
Figure 1. Image A (top) by N. Abbott and Image B (below) by F. Frankel. Image B appeared as an illustration in “Manipulation of the Wettability of Surfaces on the 0.1- to 1-Micrometer Scale through Micromachining and Molecular Self-Assembly” by Nicholas. L. Abbott, John P. Folkers, and George M. Whitesides, Science, 4 September 1992, Vol. 257, pp 1380–1382. Image B appeared on the cover of that issue. Photo by Felice Frankel, copyright © 1992.
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Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 78 No. 10 October 2001 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
Chemical Education Today
There are no secrets in photography, just logical thinking.
Photographing through a Stereomicroscope
Designing Your Sample In image 2A shown above right, the investigators fabricated and photographed a polymer-enclosed channel through which flowed two fluids. The point of the investigation was to show two inlets with different colored liquids, joining into one zig-zagged channel, and maintaining a laminar flow. To emphasize the phenomenon, I suggested fabricating another sample, which I photographed in image 2B (at right). We designed the sample with seven inlets, each flowing with a different color, finally joining into one channel. This photograph is more compelling than the first attempt and dramatically emphasizes the laminar quality of the flow.
Figure 2. Image A (top) by P. Kenis and R. Ismagilov; Image B (below) by F. Frankel. Image B appeared as an illustration in “Microfabrication Inside Capillaries Using Multiphase Laminar Flow Patterning” by Paul J. A. Kenis, Rustem F. Ismagilov, and George M. Whitesides, Science, 2 July 1999, Vol. 285, pp 83–85. Image B appeared on the cover of that issue. Photo by Felice Frankel, copyright © 1999.
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 78 No. 10 October 2001 • Journal of Chemical Education
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Chemical Education Today
NCW 2001: Celebrating Chemistry and Art Photographing with a Compound Microscope
Designing Your Sample Because you are looking at a more magnified version of your work, you might think you will have less opportunity to make compelling images, that your options for experimentation are more constrained. This is definitely not the case. In fact, with fewer forms to compose within your frame, you have a better opportunity to communicate a particular idea. You can bring attention to the essential part of your investigation by creating an interesting sample. When Kathy Vaeth was a graduate student at MIT, part of her thesis was to demonstrate the controlled gas deposition of a polymer on a patterned surface (see cover of this Journal and Image C, below right). She first used parallel lines of varying widths as her pattern (Image A). At my encouragement, she had more fun with her patterns and in the process made more visually interesting samples, still communicating the ideas behind the engineering. Images B and C are the result. I took both images with Nomarski differential contrast, also known as Differential Interference Contrast (DIC), a technique used in microscopy to emphasize surface structure.
You can bring attention to the essential part of your investigation by creating an interesting sample.
Literature Cited 1. Frankel, F. Envisioning Science, MIT Press, January 2002. See also Frankel, F.; Whitesides, G. M. On the Surface of Things, Images of the Extraordinary in Science, Chronicle: San Francisco, 1997; and Frankel, F. Envisioning Science— A Personal Perspective, Science 1998, 280, 1698. Felice Frankel is a research scientist and Director of the Envisioning Science Project at MIT, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139;
[email protected]; http:// web.mit.edu/edgerton/felice and http://web.mit.edu/i-m.
Figure 3. Images A, B, and C (left to right) by Felice Frankel, from the research of Kathleen M. Vaeth and Klavs F. Jensen published in Advanced Materials, 1999, 11 (10), 814–820. Photos by Felice Frankel, copyright © 1999.
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