Benjamin Langford

Sharimiki, 2024

Benjamin Langford’s Sharimiki (2024) depicts a bonsai in the sharimiki style, where the trunk is made to appear like deadened wood on an old tree by consistently stripping and damaging the bark. The original photograph was shot inside of a botanic garden greenhouse, where this particular tree is no longer alive but was kept to showcase how dramatically the bonsai was shaped and styled. “To me,” shares Langford, “it represents a piece of nature twisted by our hands beyond recognition–an object that is at once beautiful and grotesque. It reflects our desire to bend and shape nature to our will.”

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