Taylor Lockwood's National Geographic Magazine Debut
Dear friends -- In the past twenty-five years or so I have been sending major publications some of my best images in hopes of getting them to see mushrooms as nature's art instead of dried up moldy pieces of science. That's o.k. too but I'm going for nature's beauty here.
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Taylor Lockwood
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February 12, 2014
Bioluminescent mushrooms. © Taylor Lockwood
It has been very frustrating and I've written letters detailing my thoughts about their aesthetic fungophobia -- but I didn't send them.
I decided to take the high road and keep photographing and sending images until there was one to which they could not say "no".
My persistence has paid off.
In the May, 2014 issue, in their front section, Visions of Earth, National Geographic Magazine is going to feature one of my mushroom photos in a two page spread.
To their credit, they picked one of the best mushroom photos of my career -- bioluminescent mushrooms with no other light than from the light of the moon. That image (above) and many more will be in this year's "Spirits of the Forest" tour in the fall.
This is a great day for mushrooms. And, to the many people who have bought my "mushroom items", booked shows, given advice, helped with editing and identifications, provided hospitality as well as other support, this is not just my success; it is your success too.
This is not a time to "rest upon laurels". I feel even more charged than before. To that end, I'll be going to Brazil again this Friday and Australia/New Zealand next month.
I hope to see you on the "Spirits of the Forest" tour in the fall,
Taylor
Editor's Note: As of 2026, a photo of the 2-page spread is available in the National Geographic Photographic archive channel (@geoarchive_) on Instagram.
