Barry Webb's Award-Winning Slime Mould Photography Explores Unique Organisms
Barry Webb, a gardener and hobby photographer based in west London, began exploring slime mould photography in 2019 after discovering the organisms during the Covid lockdown. His project concentrates on the fruiting bodies of slime mould, capturing their detail using a high-powered macro lens. Webb produces composite images from many shots, often employing focus bracketing which involves taking hundreds of photos and combining them with software to achieve sharp focus.
Slime moulds are single-celled organisms, more closely related to amoebae than fungi, plants, or animals. They feed on bacteria, algae, and fungi, playing an important role in ecosystems across forests, deserts, gardens, and compost heaps. Webb’s images include close-ups of structures such as slime mould growing in a leaf hole.
His photograph titled 'Glistening Slime Mould' won the People's Choice award in the macro category at the British Photography Awards in 2025. Additionally, Webb won the Natural World category at the New Scientist Photography Awards for a photo capturing a woodlouse eating slime mould.
The Royal Horticultural Society notes that slime mould has practical applications beyond photography, including simulations for urban transport mapping and scientific research related to dark matter.
