Botanical art

Masumi Shiohara’s images record and celebrate the identifying characteristics of the fruit that he grows on his farm:

I am a fruit farmer in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. I grow grapes, pears, plums, peaches and apples. I am also a fruit breeder. I breed and cultivate dozens of varieties of fruits.

When filing a plant patent application, we keep records to identify each of the varieties and to compare those with other similar varieties. A collection of these records is called a characteristic table. As a fruit farmer and breeder, I continue to use photographic techniques to illustrate all of the important items in the trait table in a single piece of work. My photographs become a form of botanical art….

Botanical art originally evolved from the study of medicinal herbs, to identify different varieties in this way through drawings. During the Age of Discovery, a huge number of plants were recorded in faraway and foreign lands, and their detailed depictions began to be considered works of art. Even now, botanical art is highly regarded and continues as an art form. I create works based on the methods of scholars at that time, expressing the beauty of plants using modern, photographic technology and digital editing.

Malus pumila Mill. 'No name' natural hybrid seedling of Cripps Pink.