Do tears of joy look the same as ones of woe—or ones from chopping onions? In “The Topography of Tears,” the Los Angeles-based photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher explores the physical terrain of one hundred tears emitted during a range of emotional states and physical reactions. Using a Zeiss microscope with an attached digital camera, she captures the composition of tears enclosed in glass slides, magnified between 10x and 40x. “There are many factors that determine the look of each tear image, including the viscosity of the tear, the chemistry of the weeper, the settings of the microscope, and the way I process the images afterwards,” she says.

“They're some of the most intriguing and complex creatures on the planet but they really do have nothing to hide – because theyre totally see-through. Transparent animals – creatures with clear glass-like skin – can be found all over the world but their very existence is still shrouded in mystery. The fascinating organisms verge on the invisible and their translucent skin often helps them elude predators”. – Caters News. Photo: Thornback Skate. (Photo by Ken Lucas/Caters News)

The AMECA robot from the manufacturer Engineered Arts is in the Deutsches Museum Nuremberg (Future Museum), Bavaria on May 3, 2022. AMECA is a humanoid robot that will be presented to the general public for the first time in Europe as part of the Blue Night on May 7, 2022 in Nuremberg. (Photo by Daniel Karmann/dpa/Alamy Live News)

Revellers partied the night away in Leeds, UK on September 5, 2020. Leeds has been added to Public Health England's coronavirus "watchlist" and could be hit with lockdown measures after a rise in coronavirus cases in the city. (Photo by NB Press LTD/The Sun)

Two girls dressed up for a night out in Newcastle, United Kingdom on November 01, 2020 – just hours after Boris Johnson's announcement. Johnson says the new measures will begin on Thursday and last until second of December. (Photo by North News and Pictures/The Sun)

Costumed participants of a lacquer and leather ship, the so-called “Torture Ship”, kiss before putting out to Lake Constance for a pleasure cruise at the harbor of Friedrichshafen, Germany, 29 June 2019. Hundreds of leather and rubber fans set sail for the boat trip through the night on Lake Constance. (Photo by Daniel Kopatsch/EPA/EFE)

A group of friends dance the night away at Latitude Festival in Suffolk, United Kingdom on July 22, 2021. Suffolk, returns as a covid test event after a year off due to the pandemic. (Photo by Guy Bell/Alamy Live News)

Rescuers carry an injured passenger on stretcher at Soshigaya Okura Station after stabbing on a commuter train, in Tokyo Friday night, August 6, 2021. A man with a knife attacked 10 passengers on a commuter train in Tokyo on Friday and was arrested by police after fleeing, fire department officials and news reports said. (Photo by Kyodo News via AP Photo)