All images © Vitor Schietti, shared with permission
Cultivated for centuries in Japan, bonsai at least 4,000 years ago, treasured as symbols of balance and harmony and admired for their aesthetic beauty. ’s ongoing project Impermanent Sculptures to tap into the strength of the trees in a photographic series of illuminated specimens.
Long-exposure shots capture bright streams from sparklers that contrast against deep, dark backgrounds and speak to the relationship between the immediacy of light, the ephemerality of the photograph, and the enduring nature of the lifeforms. “The small-scale representation of their grown, natural counterparts allow my strokes of sparkles to reach further through the trees’ shapes,” Schietti explains. Bonsai provide an opportunity to illuminate what he describes as the “soul, the source of life,” of these living forms, sharing that the process of creating and tending to one of the miniature botanical specimens reveals a unique human connection to nature.
You can find more of Schietti’s work on his and .
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