Hemerocallis 2 (Daylily 2) from the series Deadheading - Limited Edition of 6 Photograph

The series Deadheading documents the fragile and transient beauty of decay by recording one phase in the cycle of growth, prime, death and rebirth. What we may perceive as dead, untidy, undesirable and imperfect is, in fact, nature’s magnificence. (We find all these principles also in the concept of wabi-sabi.) Perfection as we understand it is an entirely artificial (i.e. human-made and therefore un-natural) concept. Deadheading is the gardener’s caring act of removing dead flowers from a plant before they set seeds to encourage the plant to re-flower. This pleases the viewer’s senses but, much more importantly, creates more nectar for the wildlife, in particular the pollinators, who then pollinate other plants. Many plants (not all) respond to deadheading by re-flowering. Of the plants photographed, the poppy, for instance, would not normally require deadheading. The series consists of currently thirteen colour photographs. It was created in July and September to October 2020 in my studio using plants from my own garden. In each case, the photograph was made within minutes of deadheading. The photographs are not, as such, retouched. If there was a spot on a petal, I did not remove it. A speck of soil I kept, and if there was an insect, I left it and later resettled it in the garden. The paper used for prints from this series is Awagami Kozo Thick White. Kozo, the fibre from the mulberry tree, is the most traditional fibre used in Japanese papermaking. The fibres are much longer than those from materials used in Western papers. They produce exceptionally strong paper. Prints ship in a box and are unframed. The dimensions quoted are the size of the paper. There is a white margin around the actual image.