Ying Ang Zeroes In on the Fleshy Underbellies of Fungi in 'Fruiting Bodies'

"The photographer decided to document these distinctive growths, which soon had her thinking about the process of decay and regeneration. Now compiled in a book titled Fruiting Bodies, Ying's images glimpse a variety of common mushrooms from ground level. Her lens pokes through blades of grass to peer upwards at the spongy underbellies of the growths, capturing their unique textures and colors in impeccable detail."

"Ying utilizes the collection as an opportunity to delve into ecofeminism and the relationship between productivity and fertility, a historically fraught link when considering a woman's presumed role of wife and mother. She explains: Like the female body, mushrooms have been understood and valued primarily through their reproductive function. Yet, beneath the surface, a vast underground mycelial network is vital in ways that defy conventional visibility: in care, in knowledge, in reciprocity."

Photographs document fleshy spores emerging through autumn leaves and spring grass in public parks near Melbourne. The images compile ground-level glimpses of common mushrooms, with the lens poking through blades of grass to peer upward at spongy underbellies, capturing distinctive textures and colors in close detail. The series probes relationships between productivity and fertility, linking mushroom reproductive visibility to historical valuation of the female body and to assumptions about wife and mother roles. The work emphasizes vast underground mycelial networks that enable care, knowledge, and reciprocity beyond visible fruiting bodies. The book Fruiting Bodies is published by Perimeter Editions.

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