I began making these photos as a form of relaxation, a reason to be near something beautiful and to take it in fully, without the usual time constraints I had grown accustomed to in my professional work.

The bonsai, themselves, seemed the very opposite of the subjects I usually photographed—they stood before me fully present, their sense of time measured in decades, even centuries.

From my first glimpse of the trees all those years ago, I knew implicitly that there was something to be learned from them, from their endurance and quiet dignity.

More info: bonsaibook.net | Instagram

Japanese White Pine, in training since 1625

Rhododendron ‘Gunki’, in training since 1982

Chinese Elm, training date unknown

Trident Maple, in training since 1985

Crapemyrtle, in training since 2010

Sargent’s juniper bonsai, training date unknown

Japanese Black Pine, training date unknown

California Juniper bonsai, in training since 1985

Cedar Elm, in training since 1981

California juniper, in training since 1985

Chinese Elm, in training since 1946

Sargent Juniper, in training since 1905

Bald Cypress bonsai, in training since 1987

Drummond Red Maple, in training since 1974.

California Juniper bonsai, in training since 1985

Japanese Red Pine bonsai, in training since 1905

Bald Cypress bonsai, in training since 1987

Blue Atlas Cedar, in training since 1948