From the Road / Mono Lake Urschleim I. King Poco view camera, 5x7" Fujichrome Velvia 100. Prints available: lightjet on glossy or lustre paper; all sizes. Ilfochrome by special arrangement. Sizes available: postcard through 60".

What is Urschleim? It isn't really a definable thing, rather it is an idea. When we look into a colourful, amorphous puddle of chemicals, and nearby find life - tadpoles, insects, moss - it is tempting to think that the two are connected not just in space but also in time, whether by some creative act of God or some statistically possible act of Nature.

Beside Mono Lake are many scenes that evoke the idea of Urschleim- unfamiliar and colourful minerals, curious armies of insects negotiating the tufa and busy with some unending task, serene wildlife out on the lake... and permeating the air, the vague, remnant odour of dramatic volcanic activity many years ago.

Hundreds of miles away, a city drinks, and the environment at the lake changes and gives favour to new geology and perhaps also new adaptations of life as well. Is this what Urschleim really is?

See detail crops below.