Microscopic Photos of the Elements

Ryoji Tanaka’s photographs may look like alien landscapes, but they are very much of this world. The organometallic chemist at Sagami Chemical Research Institute in Kanagawa, Japan, snaps pictures of everything from iodine to silver using a system of Nikon digital SLR cameras with macro and ultra macro lenses.

To see more of Tanaka’s work visit his website and Flickr.