Malamp

By Brandon Ballengée

Translucent frog specimen by Brandon Ballengée, titled Malamp

Translucent amphibian with visible internal organs by Brandon Ballengée

Translucent frog viewed from underneath, titled Malamp by Brandon Ballengée

Translucent frog displaying colorful internal structures by Brandon Ballengée for Malamp

Translucent frog embryo by Brandon Ballengée in dark space

Malamp by Brandon Ballengée, a translucent blue frog with visible skeletal structure

Malamp by Brandon Ballengée, colorful frog skeleton on white

Colorful frog skeleton photographed by Brandon Ballengée for Malamp project

Frog skeleton with vivid blue and green hues by Brandon Ballengée

Project Information

Can we take you back to high school biology?

Brandon's series, "Malamp" (short for “malformed amphibian”), does exactly that, which tells us where series began. In the laboratory, not a photo studio.

The series is made up of scanned, delicate frogs, tadpoles and toads. Using a lab technique that renders their bodies transparent while making their skeletons glow in blues and reds. The result looks more like stained glass than science.

It’s quiet, a bit eerie and strangely beautiful. Like a memorial to something we may not have noticed was disappearing. It's curiously compelling. Almost like a car accident where your eyes just keep lingering – the more you look, the more you see.

They’re treated with such care and reverence that it stops feeling clinical. It’s strangely beautiful.