Bacteriography: Growing Photos in Bacteria

As we all know, there are many ways to process and develop photographs, but did you know that you can grow an image using bacteria? Sounds kind of gross, but the science behind it is actually pretty cool, and the finished product is definitely a conversation piece. Take a look at the video below to see how it’s done:

The process may not necessarily be a good do-it-yourself project–unless you have access to a lab and knowledge of working with bacteria–but it is still fun learning how the pop art inspired “prints” are made.

In this next video, we get to see the development stage of the portraits via a timelapse video. Watching the images grow before our eyes is pretty incredible:

Zachary Copher, the brains behind the bacteriography, has enlisted the help of celebrities to take part in the experiment for The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair in the UK. Each celebrity will have a portrait done of themselves which will be developed using their own bacteria.

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bacteria-portrait

Some of the celebrities partaking in the fun include Stephen Fry, Liz Bonnin, and Kieron Richards. All of the celebrities involved will be given their portrait at the end of the fair. It will certainly serve as a unique addition to their art collections!

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One response to “Bacteriography: Growing Photos in Bacteria”

  1. maria says:

    what interesting!

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