See the flamboyant grandeur of the common betta fish
A twirling dancer, a bird in flight? Through a photographer’s lens, this popular pet, also known as the Siamese fighting fish, becomes a fantasy in fins.
Creative inspiration is all around us, says photographer Visarute Angkatavanich. He found his muse in a fish tank. From his home in Bangkok, he captures the colors, shapes, and beauty of bettas.
ByJason Bittel
Photographs ByVisarute Angkatavanich
Published April 4, 2023
• 5 min read
For as long as he can remember, Visarute Angkatavanich has been fascinated by fish. At age seven he took up photography, first with a disposable Kodak camera and later with his father’s Nikon FM. But it wasn’t until he became a dad and started spending more time at his home in Bangkok that he merged the two passions.
Angkatavanich studied the traits of Siamese fighting fish, also known by the apt scientific name Betta splendens, and how to care for them responsibly.
Then he procured some from a pet store in the city’s Chatuchak Market and began photographing them, experimenting with different enclosures and lighting. “I can’t ask the fish to act like people,” he says, so he learned to coax them into various positions by changing the size and shape of the tanks.
A tall tank, for instance, encourages a betta to dive down dramatically. Angkatavanich, who’s now been focusing on fish for years, has a pretty good idea of what to expect next. But capturing the magic moment is still a challenge. He has to “press the shutter and hope for a miracle.”
These fish are popular pets, but experts warn that they require more care than people may think, including a minimum five-gallon tank with a few plants to mimic the animals’ natural environment.
These fish are popular pets, but experts warn that they require more care than people may think, including a minimum five-gallon tank with a few plants to mimic the animals’ natural environment.
Angkatavanich understands the appeal of photographing creatures in far-flung places, such as birds in the Amazon rainforest. But he finds inspiration in his own home where, in the right light, the fish look like “moving color” in the frame of a painting, he says. Best of all, his subjects become part of his family.
This story appears in the May 2023 issue of National Geographic magazine.
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