Snake Dance by Gede Merta of Bonsaibali. It’s a Pemphis acidula.
This photo above shows a truly remarkable tree. Enough said. Or…, maybe not. If you look below you’ll see the photo as it originally appeared (on facebook). Clearly, the photo above, without the distracting writing, better shows off the tree.
Still, it’s hard to fault Mr. Gede Merta for displaying his name so prominently. Otherwise, you’ll no doubt find the photo displayed on facebook free from any attribution, and in the worse cases, free from any suggestion that the tree might not belong to the person posting the tree (or at least, might not have been photographed by that person).
But that’s facebook, where unattributed photos abound, my opinions be damned. After all, if the poster doesn’t really imply that the tree is theirs, or that they photographed the tree, then what harm?
But what if the photo has been lifted from a copyrighted book? And worse, when streams of praise appear in the comments, simple humble sounding thank yous are all that are returned by the person who posted the photo? No, hey, don’t thank me, thank the artist or the person who took the photo (the photo in question is from the classic Forest, Rock Planting & Ezo Spruce by Saburo Kato… see below).
I know I’m fighting a losing battle. But still, it’s easy to see why Gede Merta, and others, are willing to distract from the simple beauty of their trees by putting their names on their photos.
The photo in question. We’ve shown this mixed forest in Bonsai Bark before. It’s from Saburo Kato’s classic Forest, Rock Planting & Ezo Spruce Bonsai (published by The National Bonsai Foundation and distributed by Stone Lantern).
I love to see these beautiful trees, but would love it more if you could identify the species. What is it?
Thank you.
Thanks for the reminder Todd,
In my rush to make a point about mentioning the artist, I forgot to mention the species. It looks like a Pemphis acidula.
I’m not great with facebook; that being said, many times I’ve scrolled over a pic of people,groups, and even pets, and a pop-up appears, naming said person. Maybe it’s possible to post such pics so that the species & artist “pop-up” when the tree is scrolled over. Not sure this works, but if you consult your average 16-20 yr old, they should know. MJM
Gede Merta has some of the best representations of this species. Those of us in other tropicals and subtropical zones where it does not exist are totally jealous of the Pemphis.
Brit, Harry Harrington had a guest author write about this plant as bonsai. See the wonderful article below for more details:
http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATPemphis.htm
The Philippines has some of the most outstanding pemphis acidula bonsai gathered,
of course,along the ocean.
Very good point, Wayne, about Facebook, photos, and attribution. You’re not the only old fuddy-duddy who objects to so much plagiarism (in spirit if not sometimes in fact.) I’m not sure what can be done about it, unfortunately, except set an example …
PS Maybe that’s why Jerry Meislik has his camera set up to leave his name, clear but quite unobtrusive, across the bottom of each of his photos (at least the ones I’ve seen.)