Un.frickin.believable!!!

Today, via The Curious Brain I discovered the jaw-droppingly beautiful macro photography of Andrew Osokin. The link to Osokin’s site didn’t work last I checked, likely because these photos have gone viral, and taking a look at his work it’s pretty obvious how that happened.

If you’re like me, when you think of a snowflake you think of paper cutouts, symmetrical geometric patterns, all straight lines and crisp angles.

But now, thanks to Osokin, I see that there’s MUCH more going on in that wintry white stuff.

The most striking flakes, to me, look more like the leaves of plants — ferns, cedar fronds, even seaweed — than any ice crystal I’ve seen before.

It kinda blows my mind, thinking about the level of complexity in these forms. But, I fear losing the experience of awe if I were to insist on knowing why these structures exist and how they form.

Rather, I think I’ll just take simple pleasure in them, as I do with many other forms of nature, large and small.

Enjoy!