Iryna Gordiyenko, Glowing in the Darkness (ANIMAL & NATURE 2023)

For the last 10 years my dream was to capture the glowing beauty of a Ghost mushroom. Sometimes when I found one, it doesn’t glow because its rotten and decayed. Anyway, my friend found this large Ghost mushroom in her backyard and she took a photo and was asking me if it’s edible. She knew I foraged for wild mushrooms every autumn. After I looked at the photo, I replied that she is lucky to find this treasure in her backyard but it’s poisonous and not to let her dogs to eat any of it. I told her to go at night and try to take photos of it when it’s glowing. She did and none of her photos showed any glowing. She believes that if it’s not glowing, it must be an oyster mushroom which she can eat! I begged her not to eat it and wait until I come the next evening to have a closer look. I tried my best to capture the glowing effect but it was a full moon and I could capture only 5-10% of green light during a short period when dark clouds covered the full moon completely. So, to photograph in complete darkness I would have to wait 2 weeks for a moonless night and this mushroom wouldn’t survive as it was starting to decay thanks to an army of maggots. I asked her permission if I can remove it and bring to my home to photograph the Ghost fungi to prove her that I was right. So, I set up a mini dark room-studio in my walk-in wardrobe and for the next 2-3 hours I took many different shots at different angles of this glowing beauty in complete darkness. And at the same time tried to contain all the maggots which kept eating and jumping out of the mushroom onto my floor. My friend was so happy that she listened to me not to eat and that her 2 dogs are safe as I took it away. So, this is the story behind these shots. But what I was amazed about the Ghost fungi that it’s keep glowing even while its dying… almost like a humans’ determination not to give up even on the edge of their life. P.S.: I relocated the fungi under a log in my garden and hopefully it will be reborn next year to enjoy its glorious beauty next autumn.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.