lia giraud creates living photographs with microscopic algae

lia giraud creates living portraits with microscopic algae photography
all images courtesy lia giraud

lia giraud, a paris-based artist and researcher at l’école nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs has managed to culture microscopic algae into living portraits and detailed landscapes. developed using a similar technique in classic photography, the ‘algae-graphs’ are produced by sensitive micro-organisms capable of capturing and retaining properties in light, which naturally ‘develop’ pictures using a technique similar to photography. the silver grains traditionally used in film however, are instead replaced by micro algae, a photosensitive organism. the process begins once algae is placed inside a petri dish filled with a mix of chemical nutrients and exposed to an image. the cells react to the light and form solids of different densities, revealing and stabilizing a new image after more that four days exposure.

‘cultures’, 2011

 ‘cultures’, 2011

 video courtesy lia giraud

‘cultures’, 2011 

‘cultures’, 2011 

‘cultures’, 2011

‘cultures’, 2011 

‘cultures’, 2011 

‘cultures’, 2011 

‘cultures’, 2011 

‘cultures’, 2011

[h/t] wired UK