In Fermentation as Metaphor, stemming from his personal obsession with all things fermented, Katz meditates on his art and work, drawing connections between microbial communities and aspects of human culture: politics, religion, social and cultural movements, art, music, sexuality, identity, and even our individual thoughts and feelings. He informs his arguments with his vast knowledge of the fermentation process, which he describes as a slow, gentle, steady, yet unstoppable force for change.
Throughout this truly one-of-a-kind book, Katz showcases fifty mesmerizing, original images of otherworldly beings from an unseen universe-images of fermented foods and beverages that he has photographed using both a stereoscope and electron microscope-exalting microbial life from the level of germs to that of high art. When you see the raw beauty and complexity of microbial structures, Katz says, they will take you far from absolute boundaries and rigid categories. They force us to reconceptualize. They make us ferment.