I photograph crystals through a 1970 Leitz Orthoplan microscope, in cross-polarised light. The structures are millimetres across; the images read as astronomical: aurorae, ice cliffs, nebulae, event horizons. Sidereal, of the stars, gathers eight such views from a continuing five-year practice. Each crystallisation is unique and cannot be reproduced, a process that takes about 200 attempts for every result kept. The work turns on a perceptual collapse: the very small, made to resemble the very far and very large. Birefringence is the mechanism. Vantage is the subject.
Born in London, but growing up in South Africa as the son of two working artists (painters), Bevil has been familiar with the art world, from a very young age. Since moving back to the UK at age 20, Bevil has worked as a computer programmer and IT consultant, living and working in London for the past 32 years. For all of this time, he has been an avid photographer, and taken many paid assignments to photograph products, people, events, and hobbyist forays into the wonders of nature, from astrophotography, to nature photography, landscapes, macro, extreme macro, and now photomicrography.
