Mazja Chloé Hillestrøm, Pimp my leaf

As we contemplate the electric colors of the lush vegetation, a doubt creeps in: are we looking at a forgotten garden of Eden or ailing nature that has been contaminated by radioactivity? The photographer Mazja Chloé Hillestrom depicts a strange universe in which nature, endangered by human activity, is uncannily beautiful.

In her series Complete Superfection, the photographer applied her paintbrush to the images, turning fern leaves turquoise and brambles magenta. The “pimped out,” eccentric underbrush is tailor-made for Instagram. Does our desire for aesthetic perfection make us incapable of being satisfied with things in their natural state and, as a result, make us indifferent to the fate of our environment?

By Coline Olsina