Four years ago, Kuo Yu-chih started a photographic exploration of a wonderland that is hidden to most eyes--the world of insects. Since then, the famed amateur photographer has made 6,000 slides of insects, several of them regarded as masterpieces. A teacher at the Cheng Kung Primary School in Taichung, Kuo, a native of Tainan, wanted to be an artist when he first graduated from the Taipei Normal College in 1959. Now he has a different aim--to classify Taiwan's insects on a scientific basis. Kuo's interest in insects started with butterflies. During his leaves from military service, which followed immediately after his graduation, the young Kuo would often go into the countryside to catch butterflies. Few places offer a better environment for studying their beautiful insects than Taiwan. The island has more than 400 species of butterfly indigenous to the tropical, sub-tropical and temperate zones. During his studies, Kuo noted that the caterpillar usually molts four times before it turns into a chrysalis. The chrysalis stage lasts for about five to 20 days before the butterfly emerges, although it can continue for several months during the winter. Prominent among Kuo's collection are several rare species found in Taiwan. The Agehana malaho, for instance, a beautiful type having dark brown wings with a white spot and red edges, is the only butterfly known to science that has a pair of rudimentary wings at the base of its thorax. To enable him to study this butterfly, and another rare variety, the Sasakia Charonda, Kuo found a teaching job at Fuhsing village in the San Min mountain area of Taoyuan County after his retirement from military service. While working in the area, he achieved the ambition of all naturalists--the discovery of a new species. He took pictures of a caterpillar which turned out to be in the satyrdai family and sent them to Chang Pao-hsin, a famed lepidopterist, but the images were not clear enough for positive identification. With Chang's help, however, Kuo was able to take a complete series of pictures of the butterfly from the egg to the adult which were published in the journal of the Japanese Society of Lepidopterists. Kuo realized how useful a camera would be to his research work long before this incident, however. In 1974, he had to draw all the pictures for a 58-page book on butterflies published for the Chunghua Children's Readings by the Provincial Educational Department. After taking four months over the illustrations, "I realized how convenient it would be if I had a good camera," he said. Even after he had raised NT$36,000 (US$1,000) to buy a single-lens reflex camera, and later acquired accessories such as tripod, flash equipment, magnifying lens, wide-angle lens, bellows and cable release, his difficulties were not entirely overcome. Since insects can fly or otherwise propel themselves without any notice, Kuo often found himself without a subject at the last minute. Photographing insects requires a large aperture and high speed, but since this severely reduces the depth of field, it was almost impossible to take a picture of a single insect without some part of it being out of focus. Since the need for mobility ruled out the use of a tripod, Kuo was forced to turn to flash. At such short range, however, flash is ineffective unless a special moveable mount for the lamp is attached to the camera. Like many other insect photographers, Kuo was soon to discover that bellows with a reverse wide-angle lens are the best equipment for such a difficult subject. Kuo was now ready to produce photographs showing the smallest features in the greatest possible detail. Explaining how insect photography requires considerable patience, Ku said butterflies often emerge from their chrysalis stage in the middle of the night, and the photographer must wait no matter how tired he is. The hardship is often rewarded by beautiful photographs, however. Of all the insects, Kuo has a particular liking for beetles. "Beetles can be compared to armored units with great combat ability. They can fly, walk and swim, and win most of their battles with other insects. They also make fascinating subjects for pictures." To compile his photographs, together with suitable text, is Kuo's major plan for the next 10 years. The two books he has so far written have been mostly for children. He hopes his next one will appeal to adults as well.
