Macro Photographer, Dara Ojo, Shares Stories Behind Some of His Photographs

Following our feature on Dara Ojo, a Nigerian macro photographer on his journey into photography and his forthcoming book, we invited him to share stories behind three of his selected photographs. Dara grew up in Nigeria and is currently based in Canada, but his photography journey began in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can read Dara’s story here while reading the stories behind his selected photographs.

Hello Dara, we hope you’re well. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. You have selected three photographs to tell us the stories behind. Why these photos?

Thank you for having me. The photos I selected are Planthopper Nymph, Silkworm Moth and Leafhopper Infected by Metarhizium Fungus. I selected them because they all have something in common: Costa Rica. They were all shot in Costa Rica. Let me share the story behind each, and you will get a proper picture.

Silkworm Moth

Silkworm Moth by Nigerian macro photographer Dara Ojo.

I photographed this beautiful silkworm moth in Costa Rica while filming the PBS documentary Bugs That Rule the World. What I love about moths is how often people underestimate them. Many assume they’re dull, but when you get close enough, you discover incredible colours, patterns and textures.

This particular moth was a wonderful example of that hidden beauty. Being able to document creatures like this while working on a wildlife documentary was a special experience, and it’s a reminder of how much of nature’s beauty we overlook simply because we don’t stop to look closely.

Leafhopper Infected by Metarhizium Fungus

Leafhopper overtaken by Fungi. Photo by Dara Ojo.

This is probably one of the strangest things I’ve photographed in nature. I came across this leafhopper in Costa Rica, and a parasitic fungus called Metarhizium had completely overtaken its body.

The fungus infects insects, grows inside their bodies and eventually kills them. Under suitable conditions, it then grows out of the insect’s body and produces spores that can infect other insects.

It’s fascinating and a little unsettling. If you’ve watched The Last of Us, you’ll probably recognise the inspiration behind the show’s fictional fungal infection, although the fungi involved are different.

What makes this photograph so remarkable to me is that it almost looks like something from a science fiction movie, yet it’s a real interaction happening in nature. Sometimes, the natural world is far stranger than anything we could imagine.

Planthopper Nymph

Planthopper nymph by Nigerian macro photographer Dara Ojo.

This is one of the trickiest little creatures I’ve ever photographed. It’s a planthopper nymph, a tiny insect with beautiful, waxy strands extending from the back of its body.

Finding one is difficult enough because they’re incredibly small, but getting a good photograph is another challenge entirely. They have a habit of turning away whenever you try to photograph them, almost as though they’re deliberately avoiding the camera.

You have to be patient and strategic with your movements because one wrong move and they’re gone. It took quite a bit of persistence, but moments like this are exactly why I love macro photography.

Thank you for sharing these stories with us, Dara

Thank you again for having me.

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Dara Ojo’s Tiny Titans: The Silent Keepers of Our Ecosystem will be published on November 10, 2026, and will be available internationally. It will have public book launches in Edmonton on November 25 and Toronto on December 2, with additional events being explored for New York in March 2027 and Vancouver in April 2027. You can pre-order the book here.