Like most aspects of botany, things only get weirder the closer you look. Did you know that ficus fruit is described botanically as invaginate? – as the flowers are on the inside of the fruit. Like other invaginate flowers, they can only be pollinated by insects with big long things to stick deep in there. Yes, the sex issue is over, but nature hasn’t stopped being raunchy!

Japanese/Australian Photographer Koji Makino has taken an intimate look at figs. Makino exhibited his work along with six other artists in a twelve week project called NTRAUE (nature) earlier this year at Sydney’s Gaffa Gallery. Each artist utilised the photographic medium to investigate what nature represents to them.  Here’s what Koji had to say about the Ficus series;

Through the use of explicit anthropomorphism, this series formally revisits objectification of  the human body and aims to evoke heightened awareness about intellectual and emotional reactions to body features found in these images.

Ficus is an ongoing project.We’ll let you decide what Koji’s images mean to you!

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You can find more of Koji Makino’s work on his website and instagram.