a hidden season in the woods
In South Buckinghamshire, photographer Barry Webb tracks a fleeting cycle that follows rain. After an exceptionally dry summer across the U.K., the ground remained quiet for months, with slime appearing only once moisture returned in late September and October. These organisms surface briefly, often lasting just days, then recede again into the forest floor.
Working at a scale measured in millimeters, Webb approaches fallen branches, damp leaves, and decomposing wood with a 90-millimeter macro lens. The camera brings forward forms that pass unnoticed in real time to translate a thin film of life into something legible. A cluster the size of a fingernail begins to read as a field condition, its textures and colors taking on structure.
Pink Arcyria sp. image © Barry Webb
otherworldly slime molds that hover between states
Across Barry Webb’s series, slime shifts between states of growth and dispersal. The photographer depicts spherical bodies which rise on thin black stems and hold a translucent tension that suggests movement even while still. Elsewhere, soft pink filaments gather into dense crowns, their surfaces catching moisture that beads and slides.
The images hold a steady focus on structure. Webb frames each specimen against diffused backgrounds that isolate the organism while keeping a sense of place. The shallow depth of field compresses the scene, allowing the slime to occupy the foreground with precision while the surrounding woodland dissolves into color.
Pink Stemonitis species. image © Barry Webb
Barry Webb’s study of duration
The photographic series by Barry Webb is, overall, a study of duration. Slime molds exist as part of a larger ecological process as they feed on microorganisms within decaying material. Their visible forms mark a short phase within a longer cycle, appearing and collapsing within days depending on humidity and temperature.
The work also speaks to scale as a method. By enlarging these organisms, Webb shifts attention toward systems that usually remain peripheral. Each image offers a precise record, yet also invites a slower way of looking. The photographs carry the sense of a field practice built on return, observation, and timing, where the presence of slime depends on weather patterns as much as on the photographer’s persistence.
Lycogala conicum with slug slime. image © Barry Webb
immature Comatricha nigra. image © Barry Webb
Lachnum apalum, Rush disco. image © Barry Webb
Lamproderma scintillans. image © Barry Webb
Hemitrichia sp. image © Barry Webb
Didymium clavus trio. image © Barry Webb
project info:
photography: Barry Webb | @barrywebbimages
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