A new photographic exhibit, which opened this week at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, offers students and visitors a never-before-seen view of some very rare fossils.

Local digital artist Matt Hannon will present “The Art of Jurassic Gembone: Nature’s Most Colorful Fossils” at the Nancy Wilson Scanlan Gallery from Aug. 23-Oct. 7.

The exhibit features enlarged photographs of gembone, a rare fossil that forms when prehistoric bones become fossilized in soils rich in gemstone minerals. Over time the minerals in the bone have become replaced with colorful crystals and other minerals, rather than the dull minerals found in more common fossils.

The cross-sections of the bones from the Jess Butler Fossil Collection, which Hannon has painstakingly photographed, reveal a kaleidoscope of color.

“The visual impact of these fossils is stunning,” Hannon said. “It’s hard to believe that they weren’t created by today’s modern artists, but by nature’s own design over hundreds of millions of years.”

The Jurassic Gembone exhibit is Hannon’s first foray into photography. He has worked as a graphic artist and videographer for many years. While putting together a documentary about gembones and the people who collect them, Hannon, 29, began working with a still camera that also takes high definition video. As he was setting up his video shots, he would also take stills. He recognized that the stills would make an excellent exhibit.

The Scanlon Gallery was only too happy to host it, said Beatrice Baldwin, curator of the gallery. Hannon and his wife, Meagan Butler-Hannon, worked for the school for several years and Meagan is a former student at St. Stephen’s.

Baldwin calls the photographs the intersection of science and art.

“Nature has made this tiny beautiful design and (Hannon has) allowed us to see it,” she said.

Hannon said that when he looks at the photos, and the cells and blood vessels that have become crystallized, he sees the forces of nature that created the unique fossils.

“Red is a predominant color, so I see magma and lava, the pressure that created these,” Hannon said. “But everyone sees something different.”

Along with enlarged photographs of the 150-million-year-old fossils, the exhibit will feature information about how they are formed, where they are found and actual gembone specimens.

The gallery is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday on the St. Stephen’s Campus, 6500 Saint Stephen’s Drive. The exhibit can be viewed on evenings and weekends by appointment only.

There will be an artist reception 2-4 p.m. on Sept. 19, where Hannon will speak about gembones and his work.

For more information, or to schedule a tour, call 327-1213 ext. 135, e-mail bbaldwin@sstx.org or visit www.gembonegallery.info.