Photographer Page

Guido Mocafico

Asterias rubens is the common sea star; juvenile sea stars are pinhead-size versions of their parents. Mocafico photographed the Blaschkas’ models of juveniles at the National Museum of Ireland’s natural history collection.

Mocafico photographed this intricate model of an Atlantic white-spotted octopus (Callistoctopus macropus) at the National Museum of Ireland’s natural history collection. In nature, the creature’s striking red color intensifies when it’s disturbed.

This supersize Blaschka model of a tiny microbe, the Raphidiophrys elegans, is housed at the National Museum of Ireland’s natural history collection.

Mocafico photographed this Carmarina hastata jellyfish sculpture at the Zoological Collection of the University of Vienna.

This model of a Pelagia noctiluca, also known as a mauve stinger, is on display at the University Museum Utrecht in the Netherlands. Known for their sharp stings, these small jellyfish are found in temperate waters worldwide.

This model of a Lymnorea triedra jellyfish also is on display at the National Museum of Ireland’s natural history collection.

Mocafico photographed this sculpture of a barrel jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo) at the National Museum of Ireland’s natural history collection—a fitting location, as these large jellyfish are commonly found in the Irish Sea.

The Blaschkas’ model of a Chrysaora hysoscella, a compass jellyfish, now is in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Geneva.

The Corallium rubrum that the Blaschkas replicated in glass is also known as red coral or precious coral. Mocafico photographed it at the University Museum Utrecht in the Netherlands.

The Blaschkas’ glass model of Caliphylla mediterranea, a kind of sea slug, was in the National Museum of Ireland’s natural history collection when Mocafico photographed it.