Photos: Virginia Photographer Stages Cicadas in Human Scenes

A photographer in Northern Virginia is having some fun with cicada season — and helping people reframe their fears — by making elaborate, detailed bug-scapes.

Each photo stages the bugs in a very human scene, including flaunting a COVID-19 vaccine card, grilling and shopping.

Oxana Ware usually photographs newborns and families — human ones, she points out. But what started out as a fun game with her kids has turned into a hobby that has her thrilled about billions of Brood X cicadas emerging.

“You have to embrace life. I mean, they’re coming, right? There’s no way you’re not going to have to deal with them.”