鈥淚鈥檝e been hanging around fungi for more than 30 years now, working more at the scientific end. But this time I wanted to really explore the aesthetics of fungi,鈥� says photographer, writer and ecologist Alison Pouliot. 鈥淢any of them are aesthetically beautiful. But they are also bizarre, unusual and crazy. I guess I was trying to challenge people鈥檚 notions of what a fungus is.鈥�
Images from Pouliot鈥檚 new book Funga Obscura: Photo journeys among fungi showcase some of the most striking members of this often-overlooked kingdom of life. One of her favourites is the cage fungus (main picture), native to Australasia, which somehow moulds its fruiting body into something resembling a wonky buckyball. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not within our concept of how fungus should look,鈥� she says.
The giant bolete (second from top) has a familiar mushroom shape, though this specimen has seen better days. 鈥淔or me, this was about persistence, resilience,鈥� says Pouliot. She also loves the violet webcap (pictured above), and not just because of its vivid colour. It also has an amazing, velour-like texture. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exquisitely soft,鈥� she says.
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Last but not least are the ephemeral and overlooked fungi, such as the short-lived Mycena bonnet mushroom (shown above) and an unnamed, button-sized fungus she found amid moss in a crack in a dead branch (pictured below).
is out in Australia (UNSW Press) and will be published in the UK and US by Chicago University Press on 18 August.
