Landscape Photos “Grown” On Light-Sensitive Algae

French artist, Lia Giraud, is turning your average seaweed and kelp into something magnificent. The PhD in “Science, Art, Design, and Research” is combining her disciplines to “grow” photos on algae in a project nick named “Algae-graphy.”

Using microalgae, she develops images on the light-sensitive organisms that she describes as “small sensors in motion.” After putting the algae in a special chemical environment where they can adapt to light and focus, she picks a “black image” that can respond to high cell densities in the lifeforms. Giraud explains that each cell in the algae is as thin as the film grain (a few microns), allowing an image to appear. 

“I wanted a sensor capable of materializing these light phenomena; a living sensor” she explained to Strabic. “My idea was to grow pictures so they truly develop.”

The project is currently showing at Lift Conference, a summit about innovation and digital technology in Geneva, Switzerland. Look at some of her work below, and read more about her process in an interview at Strabic.

See more of Lia Giraud’s work at her website

Hat tip to @alexislloyd

@zachsokol