Two Fish and Two Crayfish from the series Fish

A departure from his more popular prints of landscapes at the time, Hiroshige created a series of prints entitled Fish. Bearing a self-explanatory title, the series is composed of highly detailed depictions of various species of fish.

In the print Two Fish and Two Crayfish, the background includes a branch with sparse long leaves, incorporating multiple elements of the natural world into what might otherwise be a static series of a singular subject. The placement of the animals is striking, as they are not placed in a natural way, but rather with the crayfish in the top left corner and the fish in the bottom right. Rather than the animals having a lively motion to them, they seem stagnant. This composition allows the viewer to focus on the detail of the anatomy of these species, and appreciate their unique beauty.