Wonderland: The Secret World of Mushrooms / Die Geheimnisvolle Welt der Pilze

About this book

Language: Bilingual in English and German

Wonderland is a unique coffee table book that takes the reader into the fascinating world of mushrooms. Dutch photographer Jan Vermeer took on this incomparable project after being fascinated by the beauty of two toadstools in his own garden. Equipped with his camera, he enthusiastically set off on a mushroom hunt and was rewarded with pictures in intoxicating colours and shapes of the most extraordinary and sometimes very rare specimens. He has now compiled the most beautiful shots in his photo book Wonderland.

Vermeer took all the pictures for Wonderland in his home country, the Netherlands, so the book is not only an artistic work of microphotography, but also an important document and archive of nature and the forest in its present state. In short but informative texts, the author describes the wealth of forms of his plant photographic models, their usefulness in medicine, but also the dangers posed by fungi. He explains the symbiosis between fungi and trees and devotes special attention to slime moulds. In entertaining words, Vermeer explains to his readers the challenges he faced as a nature photographer in this ambitious project.

Wonderland is the perfect gift for anyone who likes to go mushroom picking, enjoys this little wonder of nature or is fascinated by the unique symbiosis with which mushrooms connect with their environment.

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Biography

Jan Vermeer is a professional photographer from the Netherlands. He visited over 50 countries including Antarctica, Iceland, Congo, Namibia, and the special atoll Aldabra in the Indian Ocean. His photographs have been awarded in prestigious photo contests such as the BBC Wildlife of the Year Contest. His latest project about mushrooms has been published worldwide in magazines like National Geographic, BBC Wildlife magazine, Focus and many more. The most important thing for Jan is to show how beautiful the natural world is in his purist form. Or, as he puts it together: "I want to evoke awe and reverence". Only by doing so, will there be a future for our children.