Lethal Garden

Lethal Garden is a project that I began in late 2014 to visually explore some of mother nature's most notorious killer plants. I grew and photographed them. Many of them grow all around us. In our backyards and gardens, and on our playgrounds and farms. Most of them are aesthetically pleasing and are prized for their extraordinary visual appeal. Oddly, others are grown for consumption as food or medicine. A small minority of them have been used in homicides, suicides, and executions.

Sadly, nearly all cases of fatal poisoning in humans on record are intentional in nature. Others are cases of accidental consumption, where a lethal variety is mistaken for an edible one. Typically, mortality is highly dependent on the severity of exposure, amount consumed, and level of medical intervention. As with most things in life, too much of anything can be dangerous. This is the case with some of the more common food we consume that contain small amounts of toxin that the body can handle, but are highly lethal in large doses. However, a few plants contain more exotic poisons that can kill with less than the amount found in a single seed. Burning toxic plants can contaminate the air and poison those who breathe the contaminated fumes. Several lethal plant toxins can be absorbed topically through the skin. While pets and livestock can be remarkably tolerant to some of these poisons, they are not categorically immune.

I think it is a rather extraordinary notion that these plants blur the line between predator and prey and challenge man's position on the food chain. I have a tremendous amount of fascination, curiosity, and respect for them.