When commercial photographer Steven Young began volunteering at the Eromanga Natural History Museum, he didn’t expect to call upon his creative background. The Museum, located 11 hours west of Brisbane, is home to Australia’s largest dinosaur fossil, and Young’s new research project, which sees him resurrecting prehistoric vegetation.
Young’s macrophotography regularly captures images no bigger than a micron – a hundred times thinner than a human hair. His work focuses on myxomycetes or slime moulds. They are neither animals nor fungi, thriving in damp environments and leaving microscopic traces around the borders of Eromanga’s rich supply of dinosaur fossils.
The slime moulds are decomposers, playing a vital role in ecosystems. Working with other volunteers, Young has grown – effectively resurrecting from prehistory – dozens of species, many of which are new to science.
He is passionate about his work. “We sift through the soil,” he says, “looking for these microscopic traces. Once we find them, we send them to be formally identified by a paleontologist, and then attempt to grow them.”
Once the moulds begin to ‘fruit,’ Young photographs them and begins attempting to identify them. Out of context, the pictures can look like alien landscapes from science fiction, but they are representations of ancient Australia.
Young has published a book of his photography and now travels interstate from Coffs Harbour to visit the remote Eromanga regularly. He says the Museum’s commitment to keeping fossils local (part of an international movement of museum repatriation) is to be celebrated.
“There’s an aura around this entire place,” he concludes. “If you take the time to come out here, you’ll be enriched. I guarantee it.”
