The PHOTO OP series — to which SEMIOVOX has invited our semiotician colleagues from around the world to contribute — analyzes photos that we’ve snapped while “off the job.”

I’ve been spending a lot of time scratching around in nature lately, so my camera roll is full of dirty hands and grubby noticings…

The three images I have picked make me feel exceeding small, insignificant and therefore, happy. And — even though one is about death — they all give me a lovely fluttering feeling of hope.

Pavements done the Danish way‚ aka surburban ‘Pavement Parks’ that insist you take the long way round, perhaps smell the flowers, maybe even stop and have a little sit. Just out of frame behind me is an old man, on a swing, daydreaming… 

The Land Gardeners Garden Tonic pleases me greatly, not least because it borrows a few upmarket artisan gin codes. It is in fact, a way to feed your soil, packed full of the live, healthy microbes it needs to feed your plants, and consequently, you… And they just launched Tipple: the human version, as a double bottle gift pack! What’s not to love?

My mum. Inside a long dead oak in the grounds of Hatfield House. This particular oak was a ‘Mother Tree’: a veteran elder, a matriarch. In life, she was the hub of dense mycorrhizal networks that nurtured the surrounding woodland: providing food, water and information that helped the younger plant community adapt and survive. In death, she passed her remaining energy, carbon and nutrients to surrounding seedlings and saplings, differentiating her kin from other species, giving them a headstart, but ensuring the whole community gets a share. I am standing at the dripline of her old crown, taking the photo. In a perfect semi-circle of her daughters. 

PHOTO OP: Mariane Cara (Brazil) on LA LUCHA CONTINUA | Aiyana Gunjan (India) on YAMRAJ | Greg Rowland (England) on I ❤️ FOOD | Gabriela Pedranti (Spain) on NOT SO TRIVIAL | Biba Allarakia (Saudi Arabia) on ALL THAT GLITTERS | Brian Khumalo (South Africa) on A LOST MEMORY | Becks Collins (England) on A MILLENNIAL ON THE BRINK | Samuel Grange (France) on SLOW DOWN | Rachel Lawes (England) on DESKTOP COLLECTIONS | Marie Lena Tupot (USA) on BOX OFFICE | Sónia Marques (Portugal) on SWISS-NESS | Serdar Paktin (Turkey / England) on BOTTLE SERVICE | Stefania Gogna (Italy) on OPEN-AIR MUSEUM | Charles Leech (Canada) on IS IT IRONIC? | Kishore Budha (England) on DOWN THE TUBE | Josh Glenn (USA) on JOINED AT THE DIP | Mark Lemon (England) on SHOP LOCAL | William Liu (China) on SWAN SONG | Malcolm Evans (Wales) on CHOCOCRACK | Paulina Goch-Kenawy (Poland) on POLAND’S NEW (HI)STORY | Adelina Vaca (Mexico) on WHAT’S YOUR POISON? | Natasha Delliston (England) on NATURE BATHING | Ramona Lyons (USA) on DEATH TO TECH | Victoria Gerstman (England) on TBD | Ximena Tobi (Argentina) on TODO PASA.

Also see these global semio series: MAKING SENSE (Q&As) | SEMIOFEST SESSIONS (monthly mini-conferences) | COVID CODES | SEMIO OBJECTS | COLOR CODEX | DECODER (fictional semioticians) | CASE FILE | PHOTO OP | MEDIA DIET.