Stories

 

The Bouquet Project

 

In March 2012 I decided to photograph a bouquet of flowers over a period of time, from fresh to not-so-much. As it turned out it was about a month. I was working in Harrisburg, PA, at the time and had seen a fellow selling flowers on the street near the Capitol building. I told him what I was about, and he made a special effort for me – and was rewarded.

 

I set the project up in the living room of my apartment, rendering it essentially unusable for any other purpose. But since I didn’t have any visitors, it was not much of an issue. The camera remained stationary throughout the capture period. Obviously the focal length changed and I did raise and lower the camera slightly. Each day involved the capture of anywhere from 20 to over 40 images.  The initial images were captured March 20, 2012. The final images were captured April 15, 2012.

 

I began the project with the conviction in my head that flowers are nearly always presented in the height of the blossom and beauty. “But what about after?” I began to ask as I myself  lost a bit of the spring and the joints began to ache. “Isn’t there a remaining bit of beauty?” So, I sought to portray the bouquet each day in all its personal glory and beauty.

 

What is presented here is a brief overview of the series but gives a succinct insight into the beauty of the decay of the bouquet.  A somewhat longer series has been developed and will likely be brought forward in the future. Other images from the sessions have been included in the “flora” gallery of individual images.

 

phillip