Agorastos Papatsanis's Image

Agorastos Papatsanis (Greece) illuminates swirls of spores appearing to dance beneath the gills of a deer shield mushroom.

Intent on revealing the magic of spore dispersal, Agorastos set up umbrellas to minimise air flow, positioned a light and a reflector and angled his camera with a polarising filter to highlight this often-unseen action.

‘I wanted to share with people this unique, unknown way that mushrooms reproduce,’ Agorastos explains. ‘To reveal something not visible is very exciting and so this image has a very special meaning for me.’

This wood-rotting fungus most often emerges on the stumps and fallen branches of broad-leaved trees. Its streaked stalk - up to 15 millimetres in diameter - supports a cap that’s usually fawn coloured.