This is one of a series of photographs of trees in the area devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake by Hatakeyama Naoya, who is from one of the hardest-hit cities, Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture. The photographs are of trees that have come back to life after withering where they stood due to the tsunami. While the branches on the right have gone lifeless after being battered by objects swept along in the waves, the branches on the left are dense with leaves and continue growing. Hatakeyama, who endured the tragedy of losing his mother and having his parents’ home destroyed in the tsunami, has since that time been exhibiting works relating to the landscape of his hometown and the disaster that struck it. This particular series, which captures scenes of regeneration and rebirth in the natural environment, is one of Hatakeyama’s singular achievements in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami, combining a scientific perspective on the Earth at geological scale with exploration of photography’s possibilities as a medium.