'Slime family portrait' shown at top exhibition

A West Sussex photographer is one of only two from the UK to be included in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.

Kutub Uddin's image, dubbed a "slime family portrait", showcases a line of alien-like growths on a fallen tree in Slindon Wood.

The reproductive parts of a slime mold, the blue spheres on stalks each measure a couple of millimetres in diameter and required being shot with a specialist lens to be visible.

Uddin, of Bognor Regis, described his work being featured at the exhibition as "absolutely amazing".

Originally from Bangladesh, Uddin said that his passion was to visit woodland to "highlight the beauty and importance of the hidden world found within".

"Most people would walk past and never notice these things, but to me, they're fascinating," he added.

Now celebrating its 61st anniversary, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition recently opened at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, celebrating some of the most exceptional nature photography taken from around the globe.

On tour from the Natural History Museum in London, it runs until 6 September.

Joanne Smith, the museum's programming manager, called this year's selection of images "among the most incredible I've seen".

"The technical ability behind them just blows my mind, and they really meld together the beauty of the natural world, art and really important issues like climate change," she added.

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