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    Maurice Mikkers: micrographs

    caffeine | drugs | tears

    Top: MDMA, LSD, GHB; Bottom: DMT, Amphetamine, 2CB

    Overview of six tears from six different people

     

    (Click below for enlarged images.)

    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after eating a red pepper.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after eating a mini red chili pepper.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after crying from high dosed menthol oil on eyelid.
    Show More

    Reflex tears after cutting white onions, eating a red chilli pepper or crying from high dosed menthol oil on eyelid

    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions and eating a red pepper.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions and eating a red pepper.
    Reflex tear
    Reflex tear
    This tear is harvested after cutting white onions, putting pepper in the eyes, snorting water and eating a red pepper.
    Show More

    Reflex tears after multiple stimulants 

    Basal tears
    Basal tears
    This tear is harvested after looking in to a fan for a few minutes.
    Basal tears
    Basal tears
    This tear is harvested after looking in to a fan for a few minutes.
    Basal tears
    Basal tears
    This tear is harvested after looking in to a fan for a few minutes.
    Show More

    Basal tears after looking in to a fan for a few minutes

    Psychic tear
    Psychic tear
    This tear is harvested after an emotional response.
    Psychic tear
    Psychic tear
    This tear is harvested after an emotional response.
    Psychic tear
    Psychic tear
    This tear is harvested after an emotional response.
    Psychic tear
    Psychic tear
    This tear is harvested after an emotional response.
    Show More

    Psychic tears after an emotional response

    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".