Mikiya Takimoto's "Lumière" is part of a two-series project (the other series being "Prière") created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many, Takimoto was forced to stay at home as infections exploded around the world, with most assignments cancelled and unable to take photographs as usual. The turning point came when he came across some rape flowers blooming in a riverbed. Touched by their ephemeral beauty, undisturbed by the chaos raging in the human sphere, Takimoto took photo after photo, imagining these flowers growing and blooming in the same place for hundreds or even thousands of years. Takimoto, whose art in the past was based on macroscopic, almost satellite-like observations of life on earth, focused on the profound truths embedded in the micro-sphere, crouching down to photograph flowers and plants nourished by the earth's soil and water and the light that streams down from the sun.

“Takimoto’s photographs teach us that a flower is a vast landform. No matter what kind of computer you use, you cannot predict the change sin the flowing drops of liquid or the shadows of the delicate light. The entire body of a plant is covered with emerging sprouts, growing branches, and blooming flowers. and the skyward trajectory of these organisms, which arrived on Earth billions of years ago, contain an overarching plan that far exceeds anything in the space industry.” ― from Masao Morita’s essay “Landing on Earth”

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