Honorable Mention
Vitis interspecific crossing 'Shawase'
DESCRIPTION
This grape is a new variety of grapes that I have bred by crossbreeding. This grape is a new variety of grapes that I have bred by crossbreeding. I am a fruit farmer and fruit breeder. I took a record of the fruits that I bred and raised myself. A specialized method of identifying fruit varieties is to file a plant patent application. Various records are taken of the new variety and two similar varieties in order to make comparisons with two existing varieties that are similar. We take records of grapes grown in their natural state, without seedless or other treatments (grapes on the upper left side). A collection of these records is called a characteristic table. I wanted to create a professional but general academic piece that could be clearly seen in a photograph, rather than a fill-in-the-blank list of characteristics. I also wanted to create a work that would satisfy the aesthetic eye. In order to compare it with similar varieties, the important parts of the plant are put together in one picture so that the characteristics (three sides of the flower or fruit, cross section, etc.) can be clearly seen. This is similar to the old taxonomic drawings of plants. In modern times, this is known as botanical art. If we had modern cameras and editing technology when plant taxonomy was being studied, our predecessors must have done the same thing. AUTHOR
Masumi Shiohara was born in 1974 in Nagano, Japan. He worked at a micro-machining company as a development engineer. After leaving the company, he took over the management of the family orchard from his parents and is now running a farm. While growing fruit here he became interested in capturing them into works of photographic art, a skill which he picked up by himself. The inspiration to capture these photographically originally came when he was requested to supply fruit on a branch to a botanical artist - since then he has continued producing photographic art works of fruit on a branch. He is printing ‘the works like botanical art with white back ground’ on vellum of genuine parchment, and ‘the works with a black background’ on glossy paper. From now on, he is keen to present works with the theme of the importance and value of food another line of work he is involved in.