Jellyfish, photographed through a diffraction grating at an aquarium. We had come to see the moon jellies. We got distracted by these.
The light passes through the water, hits the soft body of the jellyfish, and most of it is absorbed. What comes back is only the gentlest part of the spectrum — soft blues, soft pinks, a watercolor wash where a rainbow would normally be. The grating pulled the rest of the colors into the upper corner, where they bloom against the dark.
This is a jellyfish keeping the light it likes and giving back only what it wants to share.
A diffraction grating splits light into its full visible spectrum — what you're seeing is real light, photographed and developed.
