What better way to underscore the importance of the environment than to explore these large-scale photographs of the thriving night world below us in the garden, field or forest.

Developed over the past six years, the series Nocturnal Botanical by Ontario-based artist Sara Angelucci embraces “what it means to mourn that which is disappearing, but also to celebrate that which endures.” (Above: October 14, Milkweed No. 3 – images from the Nocturnal series are on her website here)

The series began out of grief

Angelucci (whose works will be on exhibition at two sites during the Contact Photography Festival) has been creating botanical images since 2018, working in situ with a scanner at night.

The series began accidentally, as she retreated to her small city garden to process the deep grief of losing her sister.

Reading about the decline and imminent extinction of species across the planet, the need to mourn expanded beyond her personal circle.

Angelucci began to work in fields and forests near her cottage in the Pretty River Valley, Ontario, immersing herself in close relation with the natural world.

Plants glow beneath the scanner

Glowing beneath the scanner’s beam, the plants reveal their wondrous forms, and insects are vividly present. These detailed ecologies invite us to consider what grows on the land, how it got there, and to reflect upon the current challenges it faces.- Contact Photograpy Festival notes here.

Angelucci also created – and is exhibiting – Bella di Notte (2022–ongoing, above), named after a night-blooming plant. She took her botanical studies to her familial roots in the village of Montottone, in Le Marche, Italy, travelling roads her great-grandmother walked, exploring the field that housed her family’s mill, and visiting local farms and forests.

Sara Angelucci’s Nocturnal Botanical Ontario and Bella di Notte is at Steven Bulger gallery for the Contact Photography Festival in Toronto, May 4 – June 15.

Angelucci is also a featured Contact Festival exhibition at the Art Gallery of Missisauga from April 21 to July 7 for Undergrowth, an examination of how photographic practices have contributed to the divide between humans and nature.

Sara Angelucci’s Bio at the Contact Photography Festival.

Her website, here.

Her Instagram, here.  

At Steven Bulger gallery, here.