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The Yellow Stagshorn (Calocera viscosa) tells a layered story of transformation and historical erasure. Rising like tiny golden antlers from fallen conifer wood, these fungi emerge from trees that were themselves tools of forgetting - fast-growing conifers hastily planted to green-wash former colliery sites, to quickly cover the visual scars of industrial heritage. Yet in breaking down these planted trees, the Stagshorn participates in a deeper form of reclamation. Through my macro lens, their translucent, branching forms become both beautiful and profound: here is nature's patient resistance to simplified narratives of recovery. As they slowly decompose the conifer remains, they're not just recycling matter but participating in a more honest form of healing - one that doesn't seek to hide the past but transforms it into new possibilities. Their presence marks a kind of double transformation: the manufactured forest cover giving way to more diverse ecosystems, as if nature itself is correcting our hasty attempts to rewrite history.
