Lichen 1

Through the macro lens, this crusty lichen colony becomes a nebulous celestial body floating in dark space, growing not just on post-industrial stone but ascending the planted conifers that were meant to quick-fix these landscapes. Its pale, scaly form radiates outward like a newborn star system, colonizing both the ground's industrial remnants and the artificial forests above. These sensitive organisms are nature's truth-tellers - their very presence marking the gradual return of clean air to lands once shrouded in coal dust. They create connections between manufactured woodland and wounded earth, their growth possible only where air quality permits.