Sunday, July 23, 2006; M04

"Scientists see and enjoy beauty in many things -- in science, of course, but in music and in a wide range of artistic media," says Al Teich, 63, a Bethesda photographer whose day job is director of science and policy programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

His photographic career began at age 10, when Teich won a camera in a jingle-writing contest. Fifty years later, digital photography "opened a huge new range of possibilities."

After the avid kaleidoscope collector spied his dream 'scope on a trip to Colorado Springs several years ago, it showed up as a Father's Day gift.

"The images are very beautiful but transient. There is an infinite variety of them, but they disappear when you turn the kaleidoscope." Three years ago, he began taking photographs to preserve those images.

To capture the shots, Teich aligns a compact digital camera with the eyepiece of the kaleidoscope. "The instant feedback provided by the digital format is essential to getting good shots," he explains.

This endeavor is a game of minutiae; incremental movements produce monumental changes in visuals.

Teich's love of symmetry stems from early training in physics. As for his love of photography: "I've long admired the absolute perfection of Ansel Adams's work and the ability of Henri Cartier-Bresson to capture moments in time." Like those masters, Teich works in black and white -- so that viewers can focus on the patterns without being distracted by colors.

-- Robin Tierney