Cristiana Damiano's Image

One summer, Cristiana went on a hike in the Natural Regional Park of the Friulian Dolomites in northeast Italy.

The ascent was difficult in places. ‘Scrambling over large boulders under the hot July Sun was hard work with all my equipment,’ recalls Cristiana. She had stopped for a break in the shade when she spotted this delicate harvestman, also avoiding the heat. ‘I was fascinated by its elegance and camouflage,’ she says. Harvestmen are not spiders but belong to a different, ancient group of arachnids called the Opiliones. They are active at night, walking raised up on their characteristically long legs, which can be self-amputated if they are in mortal danger. By day, they usually cluster in damp, shady surroundings. ‘I found it fun to try to bring out the beauty of an animal so small and common,’ Cristiana explains. Later she converted the image to black and white to emphasise the creature’s exquisite legs, echoed by the grass stems.