Capturing the world's oldest living things      "It's been a
fantastic learning experience and so unexpected," said Sussman.
"[These organisms] have never been cataloged in this way; there
isn't a global species longevity catalog."  Sussman's ancient
organisms are continuously living and are genetically identical
individuals.  So far, she has shot more than 25 different
species of plant or organism, each being older than 2,000 years
-- "I wanted to start with the idea of 'year zero' " -- with the
oldest being actinobacteria from the permafrost of Siberia
estimated to be around 500,000 years old. After initial research
on the Internet to track her subjects down, Sussman contacted
scientists who were studying the species she wanted to
photograph. "Nine times out of 10, they're thrilled that someone
outside of their field is interested in this esoteric work that
they're doing," said Sussman.  "Then once the word got out
there, people started contacting me."  Sussman discovered the
llaretta in the Atacama Desert