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Our next presenter in the Spotlight series will be Dr. Robin Williams, an esteemed fellow of the BioCommunications Association. The presentation will be held October 31, 2024 at 5 PM US Eastern Time. Please click here to register.

← Australian King Parrot © Robin Williams

This presentation Flights of Beauty – Flights of Sorrow, is about climate change, biodiversity, and scanning macrophotography of bird feathers. Einstein, the great scientist, once said that ‘Pure Science is Pure Art.’ It’s something that has always driven me – my Ying and Yang if you like. Amidst the pure science of my biomedical work I found beauty – images that were both tools of investigation and also an expression of pure natural beauty.

“Flights of Beauty…Flights of Sorrow” is a crossover science–art project. In a technical sense obtaining such detailed and clear photographs of the feathers is challenging and requires the 'merging' of up to 200 individual photographs. The colours we see are created in complex ways – some like those of the Ibis are a result of iridescence – and sophisticated lighting arrangements are required. In a creative way the project aims to engage the viewer in the beauty of bird plumage and at the same time highlight the disastrous loss of species. Birds are outstanding indicators of the health of the overall environment. They are readily affected by physical and chemical impacts on their ecosystems, whether these are caused by natural or man-made influences. When communities of birds change this is usually the result of an ecological change.

In “Flights of Beauty” images of the feathers of a diverse range of species are presented in a way that demonstrates their extraordinary beauty. In “Flights of Sorrow” we see the feathers of extinct and endangered species as a telling message about the importance of species loss. In this presentation I will tell the story of declining Biodiversity by using birds – more specifically their feathers – to send a message about what’s happening in the natural world. I will describe how the project arose, the macro-photography involved and how the results have been used.

Crimson Rosella © Robin Williams

Dr. Robin Williams
BSc, MPhil, PhD, ASIS, FRPS, FBCA, FIMI, FBIPP

Robin is a distinguished photographer with fifty years professional experience as a practitioner, researcher and teacher. He holds undergraduate qualifications in both scientific and medical photography and Masters and PhD degrees in Medicine. He is an Accredited Senior Imaging Scientist and a Fellow of seven learned societies including the BCA.

Mulga Parrot © Robin Williams

For 20 years he had a stellar career as a medical photographer starting at Cambridge Medical School and culminating as Director of Medical Illustration and Teaching Services at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School in London. Then Robin moved into academia and was a Professor of Photography for over 25 years and Dean of the Faculty of Art, Design and Communication at RMIT University in Melbourne. Robin was also a Founding Governor and Chair of the Academic Board at Australia's top private photography college (PSC). He has published over 70 scientific papers and books and delivered over 400 presentations at National and International conferences. His work has been widely exhibited, is in many public and private collections, and has been published in hundreds of magazines, such as, Time Life, National Geographic, The Observer and New Scientist.

His contributions to medical imaging have been recognised by: The Williamson Research Medal of the Royal Photographic Society, The Lancet Award, The BMJ Award, the Presidential Award of the British Institute of Professional Photography, the Norman Harrison Medal of the Institute of Medical Illustration, the Louis Schmidt Medal of the BioCommunications Association and the highly prestigious Combined Royal Colleges Medal – twice (given by all the Royal Medical Colleges for an outstanding contribution of imaging in the service of medicine).

In recent years Robin has concentrated on his personal work and has quickly established himself as a recognised landscape and nature photographer. He has received many international awards for his work in this genre; including the SanDisk Landscape Awards, Wilderness Photographer of the year, International Colour Awards, International Fine Art Photography Awards, Outdoor Photographer of the year, Epson Pano Awards and recently overall winner of the International Garden Photographer of the Year.