“Hey! I'm Thomas Shahan, an artist and macrophotographer from Oklahoma. In my spare time over the past few years, I've been shooting portraiture of local arthropods. Why would I devote countless hours to tramping through forests, fields and the like searching for insects and spiders? Well, despite some common beliefs, arthropods (members of the phylum Arthropoda – insects, spiders, crustaceans...) represent an endlessly varied, wildly beautiful and fascinating bunch of animals with surprisingly personable faces and behavior. Often, all it takes is simply inspecting their lives on a closer level to turn repulsion to reverence”. – Thomas Shahan

Photo: Adult Male Jumping Spider at Sunset – Phidippus mystaceus. (Photo by Thomas Shahan; Source: Flickr)

This aerial picture taken on August 16, 2020, shows the MV Wakashio bulk carrier that had run aground and broke into two parts near Blue Bay Marine Park, Mauritius. A ship that has leaked more than 1,000 tonnes of oil in pristine waters off the Mauritius coast has split into two, its Japanese operator said August 16, 2020. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A volunteer operates a remote controlled disinfection robot to disinfect a residental area amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 16, 2020. China tightened quarantine measures for international arrivals on March 16 as the country worries about a rise in imported cases of the deadly coronavirus and anger rages online at how Europe and the United States are handling the pandemic. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

A Citroen Ami One concept car sits on display during the media day of the Auto Shanghai 2019 motor show in Shanghai, China, 16 April 2019. The 18th Shanghai international automobile industry exhibition runs from 16 to 25 April. (Photo by Wu Hong/EPA/EFE)

Activists from the climate action group Ocean Rebellion perform a stunt outside The Baltic Exchange building, in London, Britain on November 16, 2020. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

Medical students play with coloured powder as they participate in Holi celebrations, the Hindu spring festival of colours, inside Moti Lal Nehru Medical College campus in Allahabad on March 16, 2022. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

A man disinfects the personal protection suit of a medical worker at a nucleic acid testing station, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Beijing, China, June 16, 2022. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A displaced man cools off to avoid heat on flooded highway, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Sehwan, Pakistan on September 16, 2022. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)