A Kashmiri Shiite Muslim flagellates himself during a Muharram procession in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, October 11, 2016. Muharram is a month of mourning in remembrance of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. (Photo by Dar Yasin/AP Photo)

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.

Activists dismantle Ukraine's biggest monument to Lenin at a pro-Ukrainian rally in the central square of the eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, September 28, 2014. (Photo by Igor Chekachkov/AP Photo)

A policewoman tries to stop an anti-Occupy protester from breaking a police cordon to charge at pro-democracy protesters during a confrontation in Hong Kong October 13, 2014. Hundreds of unidentified people, some wearing masks, tried to break down protest barriers in the heart of Hong Kong's business district on Monday, scuffling with protesters who have occupied the streets for the past two weeks. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

A coach wipes away tears and comforts a girl who was feeling tired during gymnastics lessons at the Shanghai Yangpu Youth Amateur Athletic School in Shanghai, China, May 4, 2016. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

A police officer fires tear gas at protesters after the presidential election results were announced in Kisumu, Kenya on August 15, 2022. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)

Riot police fire tear gas at demonstrators during a protest against fare hikes for city buses in Sao Paulo, Brazil, January 8, 2016. Brazilian riot police on Friday fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a violent protest against a rise in public transport fares in the country's largest city, Sao Paulo. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

People assist a woman who was exposed to tear gas by pouring milk over her face after police fired tear gas and water canon to try and disperse protesters outside Parliament on November 17, 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand. The demonstrators gathered outside parliament, on Tuesday, as the Thai government met to discuss amendments to the country's constitution. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)