Amy Allcock

From the instant I saw the picture of the furry blond lobster, the Kiwa hisuta, I was mesmerized. Apparently I wasn’t the only one as Mark Murford has written a wonderfully insightful article about the recently discovered crustacean and it’s power to invoke wonder in us. After reflecting on the feelings invoked by this fury little marvel, he states:

Kiwa hirsuta is, in short, a reminder. Of how little we know. Of how much we have forgotten. Of the wonders that exist everywhere, from oak leaf to vestigial tailbone. Of how we have to remember to look around, to cultivate the skill, the ability to see, lest we slowly go blind. Some say we have lost our power to be awed. We are too jaded, too saturated with media images and the relentless barrage of unspeakable war horrors, too soaked in the info overload of the Internet to be able to process and filter and pick out the gems and stand back and say, Oh my God, would you look at that, and what might that mean, and isn’t that just the most amazing thing and doesn’t it put everything in a fresh perspective, just for a minute?”

The Kiwa hisuta is a wonderful example of something different inspiring a new way of seeing and as Murford suggests, the ordinary, like an oak leaf, can equally invoke awe and provide a fresh new perspective. As a photographer, I enjoy capturing both the mundane and the extraordinary and both serve to remind us of the importance of keeping our minds and eyes open to discover new ways of seeing.