August 27, 2007 - Lawrence Journal
On a mushroom mission
California photographer shares passion for fungi
Taylor Lockwood’s mushrooms are psychedelic — even without eating them.
The fungi in his photographs glow in bright pinks, greens, blues and other colors you’d never see in the drab mushroom section of your local supermarket.
“The point of my work,” he says, “is to show people one more beautiful facet of their natural world.”
Lockwood, who lives in Mendocino, Calif., will bring his self-described “mushroom mission” to Lawrence Tuesday night at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt. He’ll show his photos and talk about his latest book, “Chasing the Rain,” about his expeditions around the world to look for beautiful mushrooms.
Lockwood, a former musician and home-builder, has turned mushroom-hunting and photographing into a full-time job. His first book, “Treasures from the Kingdom of Fungi,” was released in 2002, and he’s produced several DVDs about mushrooms.
He had no idea that mushrooms could be beautiful when he first moved to northern California in the early 1990s.
“When I first discovered them, I wondered why I hadn’t heard about them,” he says. “Most English-speaking societies have a sense of phobia for mushrooms, and they still have it today. There are many, many people who hate mushrooms.”
‘Diverse’ kingdomRon Meyers, president of the Kaw Valley Mycological Society, which is organizing Lockwood’s presentation, agrees that some people sort of glaze over when you start to talk about mushrooms in general — and especially mushroom-hunting.
“I tell people we’re like bird-watchers, but the mushrooms hold still,” Meyers says. “I don’t know, maybe we have a strange sense of entertainment. But we enjoy looking for them and trying to find what varieties are out there. It’s fun to keep looking.”
Meyers, who has seen Lockwood speak several times, says he’s done a lot to raise the profile of fungi.
“They’re very, very diverse,” Meyers says. “They’re not just little white and brown things that pop out of the ground that look like umbrellas.”
And Lockwood says there are reasons to appreciate fungi that go beyond aesthetics.
He notes that many medicines have been derived from fungi. He also says mushrooms are part of the broader ecosystem of forests, with many having symbiotic relationships with trees.
“They’re a great recycler of plant matter on earth,” he says. “They’ll come and decompose stumps and whatever’s left over. They’re a good indicator for how well a forest is doing. A healthy forest will have a healthy flora of fungi.”
Chasing the rainLockwood has hunted for mushrooms on six of the seven continents (there actually are mushrooms on Antarctica, but he hasn’t made it there yet).
He typically pays attention to seasons around the globe and talks to local mycologists. The goal is to hit a place a few days after it’s rained.
“I’ll book a flight to Bangkok, and from there I watch the rain on a TV set,” he says. “Then, I’ll take a train, flight, motorcycle, oxcart or rickshaw to wherever, and I almost always find something.”
Despite his travels, Lockwood says the United States is about as good as any place to look for fungi.
“You don’t have to go everywhere,” he says. “Being regional is really important. People in Lawrence, Kansas, can wait for the rain to come.”
Lockwood is hoping for rain this weekend in Lawrence, so he can go mushroom-hunting here while he’s in town. He’s particularly attracted by a fairly rare variety called a stinkhorn, which can be found in northeastern Kansas.
“The last time I was there (2001), in the mulch outside the library, I found another stinkhorn I had never photographed before,” Lockwood says. “It’s an uncommon, rare one. I’m crossing my fingers that the rain happens right before we get there, so we can see some.”
Photo Gallery* Taylor Lockwood websites:
http://www.fungiphoto.com/http://www.kingdomoffungi.com/
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