Purple bacteria or purple photosynthetic bacteria are pigmented by bacteriochlorophyll and carotenoids, giving them a colourful range of purples, pinks and oranges. They photosynthesize without producing oxygen as a by-product. This type of bacteria are proteobacteria which are phototrophic (produce their own food via photosynthesis).
One type, purple sulphur bacteria, deposit elemental sulphur –brimstone – instead. Others oxidise iron to form rusty banded iron formations.
Purple bacteria or purple photosynthetic bacteria are pigmented by bacteriochlorophyll and carotenoids, giving them a colourful range of purples, pinks and oranges. They photosynthesize without producing oxygen as a by-product. This type of bacteria are proteobacteria which are phototrophic (produce their own food via photosynthesis)
This single celled organism is a eukaryote, a complex cell with chloroplasts, nucleus, and many other elements inside. They live in fresh water and move to the best spot using a photosensitive eyespot to follow the light.
Also known as blue-green algae, cyanobacteria are arguably the most successful group of microorganisms alive today. They are genetically very diverse, and able to live almost anywhere, even in extreme conditions. The nitrogen-fixing cells are bright little suns here, in a stormy sea.
Volvox, a genus of chlorophytes, which are a type of green algae. I did a series of photosynthetic organisms, to celebrate the international year of light (2015). Most of them were first described by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. He made some very effective microscopes in the 1700s.
The H1N1 flu virus epidemic of 2009 caused severe concerns in Europe. After a few frantic months in which media, public opinion and political decisions created some tornados, the virus settled to stay. It visits Europe every winter, wearing slightly different coats, slightly different strains, ready to take over the high street.
The blue-green algae. These wonderful sea creatures that bloom and transform the colours of the oceans. Their role in oxygen production in geological times gives them an authority as subjects of my art that speaks by itself. I had a self-contained algae period, and this was one its products. It is a large work, and the nitrogen fixing cells are well integrated into the whole.
This image shows a spinach leaf, with curly mitochondria and textbook chloroplasts. It is a happy image. It somehow shows a bit of the sun that is being harvested to create energy and life. It has great spring colours and very good fun is somehow inserted into the playful internal membranes of the mitochondria. I have only ever made two, and they are now hanging in the two extremes of Europe, in happy places with darkish winters. This is an image that I would want to hang in a thinking place, it puts me in a calm and optimistic frame of mind.
This work was produced during my algae phase, spring 2011. It was a bit of a bloom, and it has never come back. Algae are not that popular among my medical and mitochondrial focused fans, but they have a floating magic of their own.