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“Illuminated Secrets”

Flying Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

While walking the dogs, my partner, Caroline, spotted this huge and magnificent mushroom! Back home, I grabbed my camera and headed back into the woods to photograph it.

I was amazed and fascinated by the intricate details of nature in this photograph. The fly agaric, with its bright red cap speckled with white, stands out dramatically against the earthy forest floor. I illuminated it with a flashlight to accentuate its texture, structure, and striking contrast with the surrounding fallen leaves.

Famous, enchanting, and highly poisonous, the fly agaric is home to fairies and magical creatures. It loves birch forests, where it helps the trees by transferring nutrients to their roots. The fly agaric has long been used in religious ceremonies, particularly in Asia. For over 4,000 years, it has been an ingredient in a sacred, hallucinogenic ritual drink called "soma" in India and Iran, while Siberian shamans offered it as a gift at the end of December.

This poisonous mushroom features in many fairy tales and appears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland when she is given it to eat.

Printed on A3 Hahnemühle Torchon, a cellulose-based FineArt inkjet paper with a specially formulated inkjet coating. This bright white art paper has a light, coarsely textured felt and a distinctive feel. Its unique surface structure blends seamlessly with images, creating an impressive three-dimensional effect and a sense of depth. The premium matte inkjet coating produces exceptional print results, with vibrant colors, perfect detail reproduction, and deep blacks. Acid- and lignin-free, Torchon paper meets the highest standards of age resistance and is specially designed for FineArt applications. Museum-quality for optimal resistance to aging.