Living With The Dead
Mandy Cotman
Cemeteries. Places of grief, loss, mourning, neglect, abandonment. But if you look closely they are also places overflowing with life, as neglected headstones will, over time, develop a skin of slow-growing lichen. Lichens are a classic example of the biological process of symbiosis between fungi and algae or cyanobacteria. The algae produce nutrition via photosynthesis, and the fungus provides hydration and protection. Lichens may also contribute to pedogenesis, accelerating the headstone’s degeneration as it slowly crumbles to eventually become part of the soil. Photographing the headstones in the tiny cemetery at Marion Bay on Tasmania’s east coast gave rise to images of abstraction in which the viewer leaves behind the physical memorials and is drawn into the other-worldly minutiae of biological growth – to be awakened to the colours and textures of cemetery lichen, to wonder what they were seeing, and then to get lost in the detail.
BEAKER STREET SCIENCE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE
This photograph was a finalist in Beaker Street’s annual Science Photography Prize. This highly-respected prize invites amateur and professional photographers to showcase the wonders of our extraordinary part of the world — which is teeming with science and scientists. Finalist images are displayed at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery during Beaker Street Festival each August, with great prizes on offer for Judges’ and People’s Choice winners.
The Beaker Street Science Photography Prize is sponsored by Pennicott Foundation — thank you crew! It would not be possible without the support of Full Gamut, Tasmania’s premier fine art printers, as well as the wonderful Tasmanian businesses who donate prizes.
