Maurice Mikkers: micrographs
caffeine | drugs | tears
Overview of six tears from six different people
(Click below for enlarged images.)
All photographs copyright of Maurice Mikkers
The true beauty of tears
"We all need to cry sometimes, scientifically tears are divided into three different types based on their origin. Basal tears, reflex tears or emotional tears. We are all familiar with these ways of crying, but how do they look microscopically? Is there any difference? Science says that every tear has a different viscosity and composition. All tears contain a variety of biological substances including oils, antibodies and enzymes suspended in salt water. But how does this relate to the 'real world'?"
Continue reading the photographer's story of how he experimented with harvesting tears from friends to create these incredible micrographs of tears, in his publication in Medium: "Micrograph Stories: Making Things Visible to the Naked Eye".
Reflex tears after cutting white onions, eating a red chilli pepper or crying from high dosed menthol oil on eyelid
Reflex tears after multiple stimulants
Basal tears after looking in to a fan for a few minutes
Psychic tears after an emotional response