Stephen Axford: How fungi changed my view of the world

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PLANET FUNGI: NORTH-EAST INDIA

Stephen Axford has a unique expertise in macro images and time-lapse photography of fungi. The beauty and scientific accuracy of Stephen’s fungi photography have captivated national and international media, fungi experts and the general public.

This video is produced for YIXI Talks by Stephen Axford and his filmmaker partner, Catherine Marciniak.

[Tinyvalkyrie]

I’m on my fourth watch of this masterpiece. The passion and dedication to something most people couldn’t care less about, is honestly breathtaking. If only the rest of the world had just a fraction of the appreciation for nature demonstrated here, the world would be a markedly better place.

[Bunke]

"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." - Terry Pratchett

[ewaberchulska]

People are so eager to see an alien world that they dont even see the alien world right under their feet

[Happyfoam-lwyt]

Once in a while, the youtube algorithm impresses me with something of true quality.

[lvlheadedrebel]

"The forest were starting to make sense, it wasn't just a bunch of trees"

This made me chuckle. What an amazing documentary!

[Tweej]

To listen to someone who has found their passion is bliss

[genesisangel]

the YouTube algorithm decided I should spend a half an hour of my time learning about a guy who photographs mushrooms. I am not disappointed.

[MR-ptou]

props to him for doing this entire talk while being swarmed by mosquitoes.

[squashfei]

When I was around 5th grade, I would spend a lot of my free time downloading images and gifs of mushrooms onto my school computer because I thought they were so cool. I recognized a lot of them in this video; I had no idea how much one person's work impacted my obsession with mushrooms! I want to become a mycologist someday and also help local communities. What you do sounds so amazing.

[marialiyubman]

This man loves mushrooms so much that he stands unaffected in a cloud of bugs. Impressive.

[stayinalive]

I appreciate his clear paced speech and that there is no loud competing music like discovery channel productions.

[higgaroc]

I love how not over-stimulating this is, on top of being wonderfully beautiful, scientifically fascinating, and narrated by a talented and humble but passionate chiller with an Australian accent. What’s not to love here?

[sharonkaczorowski]

The purple mushroom blew me away…exquisite. I’ve always loved the sculptural fungi that look like abstract art. Nature is truly the greatest artist.

[radiohill]

How many people want to see a book of all his fungi photos? Me!

[stezenast]

Whoever chose the soundtrack has obviously also had their mind changed by fungi

[tripackdroned]

It seems to me that this gentle chap has undergone tragedy and trouble in the past and, somehow he’s made a new life for himself, revealing an otherwise hidden world. Thank you Stephen.

[rolfw]

"Life on this planet is more interconnected than I ever could have imagined" - I'm awestruck by your pictures! Thank you Stephen!

[unpaidprodigy]

I couldn’t divert my mind at the fact that he is wearing a “fungi fetish” shirt

[amaturearcadia]

When he said that he'd use a glowing mushroom covered stick to see the trails at I felt that

[ErnestoSolisChaps]

"But when you face death, it makes you rethink your life" - Stephen Axford