Hyperorganic – Pascal Schonlau

Microscopic images of viruses and bacteria are strangely alluring. Simultaneously organic and alien, they reveal parts of the world that would otherwise remain unseen. In recent weeks, such images have been inescapable – the coronavirus, with its spherical surface and club-shaped spikes, has been featured on the front page of publications around the world. The prevalence of such virology-based visuals led London-based photographer Pascal Schonlau to his latest project: “Working with a range of chemical reactions, I created a photographic series about hyper organic structures with textures that can hardly be identified,” he explains. In his series ‘Hyperorganic,’ and shapes work together to “abstract visual memories.” These images are both real and unreal, drawing together the formal qualities of microbiological structures and contemporary CGI in a blur of color.

Pascal Schonlau is a London-based photographer whose work explores where human and material intersect.