Pictures of the week: Miradors, by Erwan Fichou

Perfectly-pruned topiary trees are often considered a type of living sculpture. French photographer Erwan Fichou has breathed eccentric life into these carefully cultivated creations by asking passersby to climb into the topiary trees of Mexico City for a series of intriguing images, titled Miradors. → Photograph: Erwan Fichou

The title suggests the people have climbed up to admire the view. → Photograph: Erwan Fichou

Fichou had been struck by the sight of a man appearing through the crown of a tree shaped like a UFO. Three years later, he set about recreating and photographing similar scenes. → Photograph: Erwan Fichou

The resulting images show disembodied heads and limbs peeking out from within the foliage in a series which Fichou describes as bordering on the edge of absurd. The leaves scattered beneath each tree might suggest a recent trim, but in fact these cuttings were carefully placed there by the photographer. → Photograph: Erwan Fichou

'Each tree had a gardener who cut it very early in the morning, at 6 or 7am,' says Fichou, who wanted to avoid working in the powerful Mexican sun, and preferred the soft light of late afternoon to the contrasts of harsh sunlight. 'I would collect my leaves in a bag to keep them fresh and then, at the end of the day, I would go back and arrange them on the ground for the photograph.' → Photograph: Erwan Fichou

Fichou would have only a short space of time in which to get his shot. The formation of huge clouds around 5-6pm created a much softer light, ideal for capturing his images, but would be followed by the onset of heavy rain an hour later. Mexico’s challenging weather was not the only hurdle Fichou faced. The people he stopped on the street and invited to climb into the trees and pose for him were not always initially keen. He admits that getting in and out of the topiary was not an easy task. → Photograph: Erwan Fichou

'Once, I had to cut a tree because a lady went in and was not able to get out. Most people were quite anxious about going up into the trees, but [once they were up there] they would become very relaxed,' Fichou insists. 'You should try it.' Photograph: Erwan Fichou