Adam Neuba

TIFA 2025 Interview with Adam Neuba
1st Place winner in Special Categories, Non-Professional, “Introspection”

Can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your background in photography?

I am natural scientist, self-taught photographer, and artist from Paderborn in Germany. My photographic journey began about 15 years ago, when my daughter was born. Naturally, I took lots of photos and found joy in photography. For a long while I was more of an ‘occasional snapper’ with no particular focus, and I tried out lots of genres. A bit of landscape photography here, a spot of architecture there, until, finally, the close-up photography awakened my enthusiasm. In contrast to conventional close-up photography, where pictures are often taken of subjects from nature amid their realistic surroundings, I create fictitious compositions using elements from nature and manmade technology.

Your work defines introspection as a psychological process of looking inward. What first drew you to explore such an internal state through visual form rather than words or theory? How did you arrive at the curled-up centipede as a metaphor for self-examination and inner retreat?

I am fascinated by millipedes and have always had a terrarium with different species that I care for. Their grace, elegance and peacefulness are unique to me. At some point, I became interested in the symbolic meaning of these animals and found numerous references in literature explaining the term ‘introspection’ in connection with curled-up millipedes. In this context, the term ‘introspection’ was also seen in relation to human psychology, as self-observation or self-reflection on your own actions and behaviour. As a passionate and experimental close-up photographer, I then attempted to capture the term ‘introspection’ visually. Clear, unambiguous, aesthetic, with the animal that symbolises the term as the main motif.

What does winning at the Tokyo International Foto Awards mean to you personally and professionally?

If you look around the photo competitions, tifa is a benchmark when it comes to creative ideas, the quality of the images and prestige. It makes me very proud to be one of the winners and it is a satisfying acknowledgement of the hard work and time invested in realizing new images.

What role does control play in your practice, given the unpredictability of living subjects and the precision required in macro photography?

‘Control’ of a photographic scene is an important concept in my meticulously planned photography. But I must point out here (and I am asked this question very often): you cannot control or direct animals such as insects. You can only create an environment and an atmosphere in which the animals feel comfortable and stress-free. This allows the animals to show themselves from their best side and results in wonderful photographs. Of course, you also need a bit of luck and an incredible amount of patience.