Orange and white lichen fluorescing in patches across a bare rock face beneath the Milky Way.

A Collaborative Night Photography Project

Hidden World

Exploring nature through wavelengths beyond human vision

Ultraviolet · Iran + Canada

The Project

What is Hidden World, and why?

What It Is

A collaborative project to find, photograph, and responsibly document hidden aspects of nature at night, natural subjects that reveal unique characteristics under UV-A light.

The goal is to document this unseen world through photography while keeping each subject in its natural environment.

Why the Idea Was Formed

It grew out of our background in astrophotography, capturing faint nebulae and hidden structures of the Milky Way that the human eye cannot see.

This led us to look beyond the night sky and explore the hidden details of the natural world beneath it.

“What hidden beauties exist in the nature around us at night that we simply cannot see?”

The founding question

A photographer kneeling beside a large outcrop glowing orange under ultraviolet light, with the Milky Way overhead.

The Subjects

Four groups of natural subjects

Animals
Exploring fluorescence across a wide range of animal life.
Plants & Flowers
Exploring fluorescence in plants and their diverse structures.
Lichens & Fungi
Documenting fluorescence in lichens, fungi, and their natural compounds.
Rocks & Minerals
Exploring natural fluorescence in minerals, rocks, and geological materials.

In the wild, not the studio. Every subject is photographed in its natural habitat.

A gecko on dark desert sand fluorescing brilliant blue under ultraviolet light.

Method & Science

How we work and the science behind fluorescence

How We Do It?

Our main tools are UV-A light sources.

We search for suitable subjects, observe their response under UV-A illumination, photograph them, and document the details.

We document each observation

Location & date
Light source & wavelength
Camera, lens & EXIF data
Observed light response

What is fluorescence?

A material absorbs ultraviolet light and almost immediately re-emits part of that energy as visible light, often appearing in a different color.

Under ordinary light, a scorpion may appear unremarkable. Under UV-A, parts of its body can fluoresce in vivid blue-green.

Side-by-side view of a desert outcrop beneath the stars: dark in visible light, glowing orange under UV-A light.

The Vision

Why it matters

Natural subject
+
Real environment
+
Night darkness
+
Night sky

A fluorescent scorpion photographed in the desert beneath the Milky Way becomes one story, bringing together the natural subject, its environment, the darkness of night, and the night sky in a single frame.

Protecting the darkness isn’t only about seeing the stars; it is also about preserving the beauty, biodiversity, and hidden wonders of the night time world.

From the Field

Sample photographs

Triptych of the same fluorescent rocks beneath the Milky Way: dull grey in visible light, glowing blue under UV-A, and glowing green in afterglow. — One subject, three lights: visible, UV-A, and afterglow, beneath the Milky Way.

Side-by-side view of a lichen-covered rock face beneath the Milky Way: muted in visible light, glowing orange and white under UV-A light. — Lichens on a rock face in visible light and under UV-A, beneath the Milky Way.

A scorpion glowing vivid green under ultraviolet light. — Scorpion, vivid green cuticle fluorescence under UV-A.

A mound of rocks glowing bright orange on the open desert floor under a starry sky. — Fluorescent rocks, glowing orange in the open desert.

Desert floor strewn with rocks glowing orange under ultraviolet light, beneath a sky full of stars. — Fluorescent minerals scatter the desert floor beneath a starlit sky.

The Founders

Two astrophotographers, one hidden world

Ali Matinfar

Founder · Iran

Created Hidden World and leads its field documentation across Iran, deserts, nocturnal creatures, lichens, and fluorescent minerals.

Iran: underway Field documentation has begun.

Amir Shahcheraghian

Co-Founder · Canada

Joined to develop the project further and continues the search for new species, landscapes, and subjects across Canada’s ecosystems.

Canada: next New species, landscapes and ecosystems.

Ali started Hidden World in Iran; Amir joined to carry it forward, bridging two countries under one night sky. Long-term: a collection connecting the hidden world of Iran and Canada with the beauty of the night sky.

“We don’t only photograph the night sky, we capture the hidden world beneath it.”