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Mesmerized by its seductive mystique, Aihara Masaaki continues his photographic travels through the magnificent Australian landscape. Having shot the exhibitions Mother Earth and Great Australia, Aihara now launches 'SPIRIT' featuring Australia's plant life showing in main Japanese cities from October 2009 to February 2010. Aihara steps away from the well-known images of cute Australian wildlife and Australian vistas to shine light upon lesser known multifarious Australian vegetation.

Photographer's Note

The earth formed approximately 40 million years ago. Although the earth is now controlled by human inhabitants, it is only a blip in the longue duree of the planet. Plants are the longest living thing extant on the planet, and dominate the earth's surface in the form of bacteria and macro-vegetation. While my previous work has endeavoured to depict the Australian landscape at the human scale, for SPIRIT I have focused on portraits of the lives of plants to capture the feeling of the earth.

From tropical rainforests to cloud-scraping mountain ranges, the Australian continent possesses all ecological strata. From the moss and pandanus in Tasmania, to Eucalyptus forests, the Baobab tree, and the world’s oldest rainforests, Australia boasts fauna which cannot be seen in any other part of the world.

I have exhibited my photography of the Australian continent for over 12 years, from tiny lichens to 70 meter 2000 year old giant trees. I hope that this can be a description and a recording for the next generation.

Aihara Masaaki

Aihara Masaaki, born in Tokyo in 1958, graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism, Faculty of Law, Nihon University, Tokyo. Aihara has photographed extensively the landscapes of Hokkaido (the northern island of Japan), the landscapes along to the Tokaido road. After 8 years at SOGEI advertising in Tokyo, Aihara set out on a solo photographic trip by motorcycle on the great Australian continent, covering more than 150,000 km of the Outback, which he visits 2 or 3 times a year.