Abstracting the Expo

For many people, laboratory equipment is as gripping to look at as toasters or washing machines. But hidden in plain sight in the accoutrements of research are functional ensembles of geometry, texture, color, and contour that also carry aesthetic value. One afternoon in March, at the American Chemical Society national meeting in Chicago, I embarked on a photographic hunt-and-gather expedition in the exposition hall at McCormick Place. When I fitted my digital camera with a macro lens, which allowed me to focus on objects much closer to the camera than is possible with standard lenses, I became a witness to a compelling and novel vista of all things laboratorial. Glassware, chromatography columns, even plastic syringe filters took on new, engaging personas. Here is a selection from my harvest.