Norbert Schoerner. The Nature of Nature. Fukushima Project

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At first sight, Norbert Schoerner's photographs seem like studies of individual pine trees standing out against a barren, mountainous landscape of undulating peaks and dark cloud formations. However, closer inspection reveals something unusual. Instead of being rooted in the ground, the trunks of the pine trees end in receptacles reminiscent of the ceramic bowls typically used for growing bonsai trees.The bonsais in Norbert Schoerner's photographs were cultivated by the Abe family, who live near Fukushima and have been growing bonsai from seed for three generations. These seeds stem exclusively from tree species found in the shade of the volcanic mountain Azuma-Kofuji