Tiny Titans - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Dara Ojo's macro photography brings insects, spiders and other arthropods into startling focus, revealing the small creatures that keep ecosystems working.

Tiny Titans looks closely at arthropods from Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and other environments, using detailed photography to show structures, colours and behaviours that are easy to miss at ordinary scale. Ojo's images turn attention toward animals that are often overlooked even though they are central to the health of the places around us.

The accompanying text considers the ecological work arthropods do, from pollination and nutrient cycling to decomposition and soil processes. It also places their diversity within a larger conservation story as insect and other arthropod populations face growing pressure.

Designed for readers interested in photography, natural history and ecology, the book makes a case for looking more carefully at the life underfoot, on leaves and in the air. The closer the view becomes, the less ordinary these animals seem.

Review Quotes

Praise for Tiny Titans:

"A collection of phenomenal macrophotography that captures the quiet intelligence of Earth's smallest creatures, Tiny Titans is an astonishing volume that will transform the way its audience sees the world."
Kristen Rabe, Foreword Reviews, starred review

"Ojo chooses to let his pristinely detailed, radiantly colorful, often-discomfiting photos simply interact with readers face-to-face as earthly coequals."
Alan Moores, Booklist

"Through extraordinary macro imagery, [Dara Ojo] reveals arthropods not as background creatures but as essential partners in the health of our landscapes. . . . These photographs inspire curiosity, deepen understanding, and remind us conservation begins with noticing."
Dawn Carr, director of strategic conservation, Nature Conservancy of Canada

"Looking at [arthropods] up close reveals their true depth and allows us to connect with them more meaningfully. Their well-being is inseparable from our own, a connection beautifully revealed in the remarkable images presented in Dara Ojo's Tiny Titans: The Silent Keepers of Our Ecosystem."
Gavin Svenson, director of the Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford

"Arthropods provide many ecosystem services such as pollination, biological control, decomposition, and nutrient cycling upon which other organisms, including humans, depend. . . . A good place to start is by admiring their beauty in the amazing photographs in Dara Ojo's Tiny Titans: The Silent Keepers of Our Ecosystem."
Maya Evenden, professor of entomology, University of Alberta, and lead developer of BUGS 101: Insect-Human Interactions