About the Project

1. What is it? 

It's a zoologically-influenced photoblog. Which is to say that it's a collection of pictures of animals. With extensive notes on their taxonomy, their natural histories (where available) and, occasionally, on the trials involved in actually identifying some of them in the first place. 

2. Why?

Because I don't want to feel like I've wasted three years and twenty thousand pounds on a degree that I can't use. Because I like taking pictures of animals. Because I like showing people these pictures, but feel uncomfortable watching people's faces as they boredly see 'Yet another bug'. Because when I get a real job (which I'm still telling myself will happen) I want to be able to say 'Yes, I've been working in retail for X months/years/millenia, but I've been doing other stuff too...'

3. Who are you? 

I'm a British/Zambian disaffected twenty-something with a Zoology degree that really could have gone better, and a camera that has seen better days. Oh, and a retail job that I absolutely love (honest).

4. Why are there so many pictures of Bugs? 

At the time of writing, there are only two pictures of bugs* in the gallery:

Pephricus

Anoplocnemis curvipes

   

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*If you're not up to speed, 'bug' means and within this blog will always mean a member of the order Hemiptera.

There are, however, a large number of pictures of invertebrates. This is simply an artefact of invertebrates being just as awesome as vertebrates and significantly more numerous and diverse, particularly in anthropogenically altered habitats. This means that there are a lot more of them to take pictures of.

5. What do you hope for this blog to acheive?

My long-term aim is, and has been for some time, to raise a little warmth for overlooked and generally disliked animal groups. I doubt that this blog will do anything much to anyone's opinions, but it would be nice to think of someone seeing an image of a tusk wasp sipping nectar, or a bat craning its neck to keep a wary eye on the photographer and saying 'Aaw, they're kind of sweet, really...'