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Wednesday 22 September 1982
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Chemicals of the kitchen cupboard yield to the magic of a photographer's microscope and become unearthly landscapes, ornamental
suns and jewelled cliffs worthy of a star trek
These jewelled cliffs are the crystal edges of saccharin, the sugar
substitute, photographed by Volk Mol through a powerful microscope.
Peep into a new world
of glittering crystal shapes and fantastic patterns that no unaided hu- man eye can see. It is the world that Dutch-born pho- tographer Volk Mol has dis- closed in a series of camera studies that he calls Microglyphs.
Mr Mol found his world through a high-powered mi- croscope and the pioneer
work of his father 60 years ago in Hol- land. It was his father's black and white films, one of which dealt with the crystal structure of various chemicals, that inspired him to continue experiments with crystalline substances and photo- graphic colour filters.
It took two years of hard work before he was satisfied with his reproductions of substances that his microscope trans
Volk Mol. Picture
by Kimbal Baker
formed to an exciting world of beauty and fantasy.
Of his Microglyphs, he says: "Each photograph
seems to reflect the timeless mystery of the universe. Per- haps they resemble scenes from worlds yet to be dis- covered, millions of light years away."
But the vistas of unknown worlds beyond the stars you see in Volk Mol's photo
graphs accompanying this article are no more than the secrets of substances found in any kitchen cupboard or bath- room cabinet. "These are but a few of the hundreds of crystalline substances used in the world today," he says. "Usually they are granular, sometimes coarse, like sugar, or finer, like salt."
Microglyphs are an elaboration of na
CONTINUED PAGE 31
of \blk Mol
LEFT: Microglyph moonscape of cream of tartar, an ingredient of baking powder. ABOVE: Napthalene, the
mothball chemical, looks like tiny relief maps. BELOW, LEFT & RIGHT: Two microbe's eye views of ascorbic
acid, popularly known as Vitamin C.
The microscopic world of \blk Mol
HfROM PAGE 29
?Lre a combination of the scientific prin Eole's governing the structure of crystals Ed the artificial blending of colours and ¡ shapes that satisfy the eye of the artist.
I Microscopic photography of chemi I cals is by no means new, he pointed out. ! It had been used for a number of years in Hie analysis of chemical behaviour, prop-
erties and structure. "What is new is my Ke 0f it in the creation of a new art form K a scale, to my knowledge, not seen Kefore in Australia," he says.
Ellow does he obtain his pictures?
??"Let us take ascorbic acid (Vita
Imin C) for instance," he says. "It is ?usually available in very fine granular ?form, almost like a powder.
I If we dissolve a small quantity in ?(irater or alcohol and then put a drop of ? that solution on a microscopic slide, it
Brill crystallize (solidify) as the solution
»evaporates.
I "The patterns formed will never be Hie same, even from the same solution, ?mainly due to variations in the solution I and the slides and the air, relating to the
I temperature at any particular time. Non letheless, the great variety of patterns ?seated by, say, ascorbic acid have a
j basic similarity in their formation that is
typical for that particular chemical."
Although this might not be immedi-
ately obvious, an expert would readily re
I cognize it. "So each chemical does its ?own thing, but in its own handwriting, as i it were," he adds.
The photographs are produced from »no more than a square millimetre of the I crystallized solution, about the size of a ?pin's head. "Many slides are made and ?much time is spent before an artistically ?pleasing composition can be found which I hasthat undefinable touch of magic.
? "The colour you see in the ?Microglyphs is not normally present, but pis added by the manipulation of special
filters. Light and shade, as well as other special optical effects are sometimes added to enhance the mood of the scene."
In an artistic sense, said Mr Mol, this tvPe of photography was no different than any other photographic style. "One can take a camera into a forest or a city and spend all day searching for a compo- sition, a pattern, a combination of in- gredients that make up the picture as a whole. In other words, a personal inter- pretation of something that is already ^ere, the expression of a mood or feeling nat is unique to the photographer's per 1 tonality." Volk Mol has completed a col f echon of large prints for exhibition in ! ^llenes around Australia.
j Nie first of these will be held in the
gallery 18 at 18 Moubray Street, Albert
ark, Melbourne, from October 15 to November 14. CZ3
ABOVE: Suns and streaks of vanillin, the flavouring compound that
originated in an orchid. BELOW: Secrets of a headache tablet - the
tracery of acetylsalicylic acid, better known as aspirin, in close focus.