Joseph Rainer

Joseph Maik Rainer, born in Verstair, Mikitivity, was the first known Mikitivian photographer of snowflakes. He perfected a process of catching flakes on black velvet in such a way that theie images could be captured on film before they melted. His microphotography process was later adapted to other areas of study including cloud physics and microfluidics.

Biography

Born and raised in Verstair, Mikitivity, Rainer's family ran a small dairy. Though he never attended college, Rainer's father bought him a microscope when he was fifteen. Rainer collected snowflakes before they hit the ground and attempted to create sketches of their complex geometry prior to metling. Three years later Rainer began working on finding a way to attach a camera to his microscope. It wasn't until 1884-12-02, which is today celebrated as Snow Fall Day in Mikitivity, that he had perfected the process enough to capture his first complete snowflakes.

Rainer continued to photograph snowflakes for the rest of his life, capturing and publishing over 5000 images. It wasn't until 1896, 12 years after his first successful microphotographs, that his work was elevated from a personal hobby in Verstair to sponsored national research. Miervatia University purchased some of his microphotographs and began displaying them as part of an campaign illustrating the connections between art and science.

Frank Schlomer, a meteorologist working for the Mikitivity Office of Water, convinced the very softspoken Rainer to publish his snowflake microphotographs in International Natural Scientist. In the article, titled Welten von Schnee und Zauber: Schneeflocke Photographie, the two argued the possibility that no two snowflakes were alike. And in doing so, caught the public imagination, leading to a series of additional articles in national and International Democratic Union magazines. Rainer's microphotographs were being requested by academic institutions worldwide, and a host of new atmospheric scientists began to replicate and improve upon Rainer's microphotography process in an attempt to answer the question if two snowflakes could be alike.

The success of his work lead to an official appointment to the Mikitivity Office of Water where Rainer began to work with the organizations snow survey staff in order to develop a better understanding of the water content in snow. Rainer published a guide on his microphotography technique, "Office of Water Bulletin: Microphotographie von Schneeflocke". Rainer and other atmospheric scientists expanded their photography across the International Democratic Union. In addition to photographing snowflakes and studying ice crystal formation, Rainer's work was adapted to study all forms of ice and water formations, including clouds, rain drops, and fog, leading to Miervatia University granting Rainer an honorary doctorate of atmospheric sciences in 1907.

In 1918 while in Malabra Rainer became ill and left the Office of Water in order to return home to Verstair. The Office of Water established a new office in Verstair specifically to allow Rainer to continue to photograph snowflakes at his own leisure. Rainer continued to focus on snowflakes until his death on 1931-12-23.

Quotes

• "Each time I looked under the microscope I found that each snowflake was a world unto itself. No design was repeated, and each a masterpiece waiting to be explored."

• "When I started taking pictures of snowflakes, in the blink of an eye, I was essentially watching entire civilizations and histories melt away leaving no trace."