"I Create" with Machel Spence

Her Website ~ Spence Photography, Her Flickr ~ Machel Spence, Her Blog ~ Machel Spence, Her Shop (Machel writes books and you can find them for sale here) ~ Machel Spence Photography

"I create... moments in nature that most people walk right past, you know...those tiny pieces of life beneath your feet. A lot of people go through their whole lives looking up or straight ahead...I look down. I seek out the darkest thickets, the gnarliest piles of decomposing logs and the place where only flies and slugs seem to go. I search for fungi with the reverence of a child and I sometimes even get lost there.

I love... mushrooms. As most people who know me will agree, I have a bit of a problem with not being able to stay away from them. I spend on average about 2 hours or more in the woods on a daily basis searching for mushrooms and other fungi to photograph. I have found nearly 400 different species in the forest around Washington including Mt. Rainier and the Northern Cascades. Not only have I discovered the importance of fungi to the environment around us as vital decomposers, but they also play an extremely important role in mycorrhizal associations with plants and trees. We could not live on this earth without them.

I dream... of a time when everyone everywhere will have complete respect for the forest and the connection we have with it. We are not disconnected because we live in concrete houses, it's all around us. It's in everything we touch everyday. I hope my daughters children will have plenty of forest left to walk in years from now."

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Machel, your wonder for the simple beauty in nature is an example to all of us. And your photos...WOW, so amazing!