Learning to See: The World of Insects

Such a beautiful story and film. Filmmaker Jake Oelman creates a story you get lost in visually and emotionally. The importance of this film is epic as many people will never see the beauty of insects as Jake and Robert Oelman show us through Roberts awesome photography. I was lucky enough to see this film in its beginnings and look forward to watching it again and again when it comes out next year. (on Netflix etc.)

Becky Randall Creator of page "Go Ahead, BUG me" on Facebook.

Learning to See is a film that I recommend every person to see if they want to experience the rapturous beauty of the most tiny of rain forest creatures. Learning to See will reveal to you how precious and interconnected all life is on earth. This magnificently photographed film is an inspiring personal transformation story that invites each of us to learn to see the Beauty in All that Is...no matter what it is. I saw it twice and will enjoy seeing it many more times.

'Learning to See' gives so many more reasons to love and preserve rain forests worldwide, as if we needed another. Visually stunning, emotionally compelling, and continuously thought-provoking, the film will surprise even avid followers of rain forest fauna. Hopefully, this will be one piece from which a critical mass of earthlings will be learning to see.

This documentary centers on one man's exploration of a new way of life and the development of new talents related to natural history and photography. Starting a new life in Colombia and learning to see the magnificent insects that populate the Neotropical rain forests, Oelman developed exceptional abilities as an insect photographer enabling him to share these wonders of nature with others, with the hope of providing an impetus for saving the natural habitats that are home to these creatures before they are destroyed. The film highlights Mr. Oelman's personal journey in finding a new way of life and a new career. The film is filled with exquisite and intriguing photographs of tropical insects.

I found this documentary on DVD at my public library. Picture and sound are excellent and the disc has several interesting "extras" including a slide show of perhaps 140 to 150 different exotic insects, many never documented before. On a large screen HDTV they look marvelous.

Robert Oelman was born and raised in the Midwest and became a therapist. He worked in that capacity for 20+ years until he decided he wanted out of that rat race, picked up and moved to Colombia. Apparently without a definite plan.

Oelman took an interest in the small world, particularly insects, many of them so small you'd never see them without a rigorous search. He bought a somewhat dilapidated homestead and hired a man and his family to live there and keep the place in order. Eventually the husband, Christian Lopez, became his photography assistant.

Oelman had to expand his knowledge and equipment for doing what is generally called macro photography, special lenses and flash for photographing things as small as a few millimeters. After he exhausted the subjects near his homestead he began to take trips to other South America locations.

The bottom line of all this is he has discovered and photographed perhaps hundreds, or maybe thousands, of previously undiscovered insects. He has added a wealth of knowledge to the subject. The documentary also includes many short comments from scholars who have benefitted from Oelman's exploits.

This is a very good documentary, it of course has some content regarding human industrial recklessness which destroys habitats and thus many species becoming extinct.