Let us know if you would like to see more photos of this artwork!
- Back of the work / Side of the work
- Details / Signature / Artwork's surface or texture
- Artwork in situation, Other...
The trajectory of two Himebotaru (2019) Photography by Masahiro Hiroike
Let us know if you would like to see more photos of this artwork!
- Back of the work / Side of the work
- Details / Signature / Artwork's surface or texture
- Artwork in situation, Other...
More info
- Packaging (Tube) All artworks are shipped with a carrier, carefully protected and insured.
- Tracking Order tracking until the parcel is delivered to the buyer. A tracking number will be provided so that you can follow the parcel in real-time.
- Delay Worldwide delivery in 3 to 7 days (Estimate)
- Customs not included The price does not include customs fees. Most countries have no import tax for original artworks, but you may have to pay the reduced VAT. Customs fees (if any) are to be calculated on arrival by the customs office and will be billed separately by the carrier.
More info
- Trackable Online Certificate of Authenticity Authenticity Certificates can be verified online at any moment by scanning the artwork code.
- Artist Value Certification Experts study the work and career of an artist then establish an independent and reliable average price value. The average price value situates the artist on a price range for a given period. The experts may also be asked to establish a more precise estimate for a particular work.
More info
100% secure payment with SSL certificate + 3D Secure.
More info
Purchase a license to use this image for your website, communications or to sell merchandise.
Usage: Web Licence
| 1001 px | ||
 |
1500 px |
| Dimensions of the file (px) | 1001x1500 |
| Use worldwide | Yes |
| Use on multi- | Yes |
| Use on any type of media | Yes |
| Right of reselling | No |
| Max number of prints | 0 (Zero) |
| Products intended for sale | No |
immediately upon purchase
This image is available for with a licence: you can them at anytime.
Restrictions
All images on ArtMajeur are original works of art created by artists, all rights are strictly reserved. The acquisition of a license gives the right to use or exploit the image under the of the license. It is possible to make minor modifications such as reframing, or refocusing the image so that it fits perfectly to a project, however, it is forbidden to make any modification that would be likely to harm the original work In its integrity (modification of shapes, distortions, cutting, change of colors, addition of elements etc ...), unless a written authorization is obtained beforehand from the artist.
Custom licences
If your usage is not covered by our standard licences, please us for a custom licence. Art image bank
- Non Manipulated Photography on Paper
- Number of copies available 4
- Dimensions Height 23.6in, Width 35.4in
- Artwork's condition The artwork is in perfect condition
- Framing This artwork is not framed
- Categories Nature
This photo was one of nine photos that won second place in the Professional category "Nature and Wildlife" at the Sony World Photography Awards 2020. This photo was also featured as a banner image on almost every page of the Sony World Photography Awards throughout 2020.
The artwork is available in several sizes:
60 x 40cm: 9 copies, 90 x 60cm: 5 copies, 120 x 80cm: 3 copies, 150 x 100cm: 3 copies
I have a large-format Canon ImagePrograf PRO-4100 printer at home that can handle 112cm wide rolls of paper, so I print them myself with perfect color adjustment.
"HIMEBOTARU" is a small firefly with a body length of only 6 to 8 mm. That light is just a flash. Its body emits an unimaginably strong light for just a moment. himebotaru lives in forests rather than rivers, so its existence was largely unknown even though it lives throughout Japan. I didn't even know about the existence of these fireflies, which live in the forest just 100 meters from my home, until I was 50 years old. The way they dance wildly in the pitch darkness is truly mystical. I was really surprised when I saw it for the first time, and since then, photographing himebotaru has become my life's work.
It is very difficult to count living things in a certain place, but it is very easy to count the fireflies that glow as they fly at night. That's why fireflies are a barometer of rich nature and biodiversity. Female himebotaru cannot fly, so if a large road is built in their habitat, they will become extinct. This is caused by ``the fact that their existence is not known.'' For this reason, I have been researching and photographing the habitat of Himebotaru every night for two months from June to July for over 10 years. I believe that if people knew about the beautiful sight of dancing princess fireflies, they would be able to protect them.
Photographing himebotaru is difficult because the princess fireflies do not fly until it is completely dark, so the common method was to photograph the background while it was still bright and then synthesize the light from the princess fireflies into a comparatively bright image. I used to take pictures that way, but 8 years ago I started taking single shots by adjusting the ISO sensitivity and exposure time.
Himebotaru's light is the "light of life". It is a courtship light that takes its life as an adult for just one week. There is the beauty of the ``momentary moment'' and ``the awareness of things,'' but above all, there is the ``mystery of nature.'' There are few things a photographer can do when taking a photo, and himebotaru's photos are "landscapes drawn by himebotaru."
Related themes
Hiroike is a Japanese photographer born in 1962. In 2020, he was selected as a finalist at the Sony World Photography Awards, the world's largest photo contest, and began his career as a photographer. In 2023, he was selected as the winner of the Dutch photo contest "LensCulture Critics' Choice" by Darius Himes of the auction house "Christie's". Solo exhibitions organized by museums in Japan and Poland have been held. In 2024, he made his debut as a writer for the 90-year-old "Yamakei Calendar", becoming one of Japan's leading landscape photographers.
Hiroike encountered computers at the Faculty of Engineering at Hiroshima University, and has been involved in the development of industrial robots, CAD, and WEB systems as a systems engineer for over 30 years. He began taking photographs in earnest after developing many photo display programs.
Since childhood, he has enjoyed outdoor sports such as stream fishing, cycling, and mountain climbing. He has built his own log house in the forest of his own design and has lived with nature. He has a reverence for nature and mainly photographs the rare nature and landscapes of Japan, which are rare in the world. Inspired by Japanese paintings such as sumi-e, Hiroike approaches them with a uniquely Japanese aesthetic sense, such as "Utsuroi" (transition) and "Wabi-Sabi".
At the same time, he incorporates random and unpredictable elements, and studies and shoots surrealist photography. In particular, he creates abstract works by expressing "afterimages", one of the human visual phenomena, through ICM (Intentional Camera Movement).
Landscape photography is done by investigating and studying various conditions, and thinking it through logically, but if you take it to the extreme, your field of vision becomes narrow. Surrealism stimulates the photographer's own sensibilities, unearths a sleeping aesthetic sense from the unconscious, and broadens the scope of expression. Landscape photography and surrealist photography seem to be contradictory, but for Hiroike, they are the two wheels of a car that allows him to continue to express himself at a higher level.
As an engineer in Japan, a country of cameras, he is also committed to "high-definition photography". While shooting with high-resolution digital cameras, he also puts more effort into output than anyone else. He has a print studio in his home, where he uses a large printer and mounting machine to print, ize, and frame 2m x 1m works.
- Nationality: JAPAN
- Date of birth : 1962
- Artistic domains: Works by professional artists,
- Groups: Contemporary Japanese Artists
Explore the history of art through AI
Visually similar works of art history
