Alison Pouliot is the author of Funga Obscura: Photo Journeys Among Fungi. She is an ecologist and environmental photographer with a focus on fungi. Her journeys in search of fungi span northern and southern hemispheres, ensuring two autumns and a double dose of fungi each year. Alison is also the author of Underground Lovers (NewSouth, 2023, published as Meetings with Remarkable Mushrooms by Chicago University Press, 2023), The Allure of Fungi and co-author of Wild Mushrooming.
We sat down with Alison to learn more about her love of fungi and what an average day in the field looks like.
Alison, how did you fall in love with fungi?
Fungi are omnipresent. So you’re constantly encountering them or at least signs or hints of their presence. It’s that perpetual sense of discovery, like being on an treasure hunt. Like being a four year old.
I’m endlessly curious about who they are, what they do and how they operate. But I’m also enchanted by their diverse and extraordinary aesthetics. Their bizarre manifestations make fabulous photographic subjects, but even the more discreet species often have captivating backstories. And that they appear so fleetingly, makes them all the more alluring.
It’s at the intersection of their science and aesthetics that interesting possibilities arise. Especially in conservation. That’s the space I enjoying working within. But it’s also a huge challenge to try and convey their tantalising essence. Like Homo sapiens, a single fungus species can appear in many guises. Working out who’s who is just part of the fun.
This book combines your love of fungi and photography. Do you think the mixed medium will enhance readers' experience (ie. text and photos)?
I can only hope so. I think as strongly visual creatures, we respond to images, and for some readers, the book may offer some novel or at least unusual fungal forms. Hopefully they might ignite curiosity and inspire interest. It’s also meant to be playful. Science can be serious stuff, but when you look at some of their crazy ways and kooky forms, it’s hard not to feel amused or agog.
The images are meant to tell a visual story, of not just fungi, but the stuff they do and the other life-forms with which they interact. I seldom look at fungi in isolation of their surrounds and interactions. The essays are really just meant to be reflections, or a guide or prompt. For some readers this might be a departure from other books where images are more commonly used to illustrate words.
I’m endlessly curious about who they are, what they do and how they operate. But I’m also enchanted by their diverse and extraordinary aesthetics. Their bizarre manifestations make fabulous photographic subjects, but even the more discreet species often have captivating backstories. And that they appear so fleetingly, makes them all the more alluring.
What’s your favourite photo featured in this book?
The book is essentially a photo essay, so the images work as a collection. In the same way I don’t have a favourite word or sentence in the text, it’s really the collection of images as a whole. Do I have a favourite fungus? Hmmmm, I have a shortlist of hundreds. One of the more compelling species in the book is the Smooth Cage Fungus, or Ileodictyon gracile. I mean, really, think about it, what sort of evoutionary pressures must be acting on you to end up looking like that!
But in terms of a favourite image, I guess i’m more drawn to the more textural or abstract work, the less literal images. Ones that hint at something, but perhaps don’t reveal an identity or the whole story. I like the lichens series in the final pages, where they’re gobbling up gravestones and consuming cars. Or the series on p. 128-129, where three fungi have dressed in the same tones, but present themselves in such remarkably different forms.
What does a day of field photography look like? Do you have a specific routine?
Weather plays a big part. So do leeches. Both need to cooperate. If I’m looking for a particular fungus species, I can often anticipate to some extent where and when it might appear. I’ve returned to the same tree or location for many years, as I know a certain fungus lives there. Some fungi produce their mushrooms reliably, others only if and when they feel like it. But I like their unpredictability. They keep you on your toes!
Serendipity plays a big part too. I might have a ’shot list’ for a particular assignment, and come home not having found any of those images, but other species or situations reveal themselves and so I end up with unexpected shots, which is exciting. For me, releasing the shutter is just a small part of photographing fungi. Most of the time is spent observing, just noticing, deep hanging out with fungi and their friends.
Funga Obscura: Photo Journeys Among Fungi is available now.
