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Photographer Miki Asai lives in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands. It’s an area known for its expansive natural beauty, and although Asai does sometimes turn her lens to the broad vistas Hokkaido has to offer, some of her most engaging work focuses on much, much smaller subjects like beads of water, bits of dandelion fluff and even the humble ant.

Says Asai, “Through a macro lens, I am trying to show the beautiful world of the small. I am always surprised when I look through the camera’s viewfinder to see things normally unseen.”

And what a beautiful world it is. With a macro lens and no more photoshopping than some saturation adjustments, Asai captures fairy tale-like images that make the viewer feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland.

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▼Asai says she took this photo at her kitchen faucet, just using a bit of shiny paper as a backdrop.

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▼ Hello, neighbor!

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It’s hard to believe that these are the very same objects that exist right under our noses, isn’t it?

Images republished with the express permission of Miki Asai