There is no doubt that the inspiration for this project came from Imogen Cunningham. I first saw her work in the mid 70's and although it made an impression on me, this interest remained dormant until earlier this year when I saw an exhibition of her work in Oceanside, California. Her Botanicals were large silver gelatin prints and I was completely blown away by the images. It was quite an eye opener seeing the original prints, as compared to the prints in books I had seen so many years ago. There and then, I knew that I had to work on a similar project. I was aware that many photographers have found inspiration in botanicals, so I made a conscious decision to not look at any of their work. Instead, I tried to make this project my own.
I started by simply taking as many pictures of plants as I could, varying the lighting, camera position, and depth of field. I began to feel about my plants the way portrait photographers must feel about their subjects. I was not simply creating documentary images of plants, but was trying (literally and figuratively) to see them in a new light. My tripod became an integral part of the process. As I could not change the position of the plant I was working with, I had to adjust my own point of view! I tried to make these objects say or portray something to the viewer. Above all, I wanted to reveal the beauty of my botanicals, just as portrait photographers try to bring out the best in their subjects!
I chose to use a long focal length lens and to work with a shallow depth of focus to emphasize what I felt was important, and to throw the background out of focus. At times, this could make an abstract background become an integral part of the image. In the processing phase, I would sometimes deliberately push the development process beyond what would normally be condoned just to get the effect I wanted: a picture of flowers could look surreal, or movement could be implied. Finally, I had to be drastic in my editing so as to make the body of work as cohesive as possible.
This will obviously be a work in progress, as I am hooked on taking pictures of botanicals. Whether my interpretation will change with time remains to be seen.
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