Look Again: Cultivating Curiosity with Macro Photography to Grow the Bio Design Community

As an emerging hybrid discipline, Bio Design has yet to establish deep roots through common methods and frameworks, despite its growing global visibility. By integrating expertise across science and creative métiers, design opportunity can be uncovered, often in service of more sustainable futures. However, the enduring development of this field depends on broadening its exposure and fostering growth within the Bio Design community. This is especially so with non-scientists and non-designers, including younger generations. To be inaugurated in the world of Bio Design, some measure of engagement with natural phenomenon is paramount. This engagement can be achieved in educational settings and has been explored in literature. However, macro photography's role in introducing newcomers to Bio Design, has often been undervalued. Observing natural phenomenon can engender curiosity. This paper reports on the promising role that macro photography can play in 1) stimulating interest in Bio Design and in 2) nucleating Bio Design research questions that can be pursued in an academic setting. Further, it will also report on applied patented outcomes that have resulted from these exercises. After years of prototyping and testing macro photography tools and methods, Macronaut 2, was developed to encourage Bio Design engagement in macro photography. Unlike earlier renditions, these designs can be used with a wider variety of smart phone models. Their lenses with elastomeric frames drive macro photography exercises in immersive workshops. A companion journaling exercise with reflection sections is shared. Altogether these tools can make a significant contribution in ‘growing’ the Bio Design community.