“Flower Portraits” is a series of eight images, I recently produced. The idea was to combine portrait photography with flower elements. A combination of flowers with portraits is not new. It can be found multiple times during different phases of art history.
The new aspect was to arrange the flowers in a fashion style and intensifying their significance by reducing it for the rest of the image. White hair, white make up and white garments blend with the white back ground, directing full focus on the flowers. In some images it looks as if the blossoms are floating and disconnect from the rest, although being clearly a part of it.
The message of the series is to point the viewer’s attention to the beauty of nature. Flower blossoms are used in the images where otherwise man-made fabric or garment would be used. So a direct comparison is indicated, although the fabric is not shown and the comparison needs to happen in the viewer’s head.
Flower Portrait 1
Flowers have always been an element of portraits. With this series I have exaggerated the meaning of the flowers in the image by pushing the head and face to the back. They blend into the white back ground, almost disconnecting the flowers from the rest. In the below image the flowers serve as a kind of wig and seem to fly above the head, although one could see they are just worked into a curly white hair wig.
Flower Portrait 2
I liked the idea of trying different styles with different poses in the images. Roses have always been associated with baroque. This style features baroque hair-style. One could imagine this being part of an historic outfit, although being a kind of surreal.
Flower Portrait 3
In this image the flower style serves as a hat. The pose creates ascending diagonals and puts some focus on the asymmetric arrangement.
Flower Portrait 4
Due to the variation in contrast between the flowers and the face, the flowers seem to float. It is in the nature of the blossom being lightweight and being carried away by the wind. This arrangement was chosen to underline this. The flowers don’t seem to be an enduring part of the scene.
Flower Portrait 5
This image shows another hat like arrangement with orchids and little branches. The heavy orchid blossoms out poured over the top of the head seem still to be in a movement and the image just captured the moment before they all fall.
Flower Portrait 6
With this image I wanted to blend the flowers with the hair and make it one. The wig could be the flowers or the flowers could be the wig.
Flower Portrait 7
Instead of just wearing the flower bouquet on the head, I lined white rose up for a necklace or kind of collar. Nature provides us with ornaments and beauty, which is difficult to outrival with any man made fabric – even the finest lace.
Flower Portrait 8
What would it look like, if fertile brain could not just originate meaningful thoughts but flowers? It would look like this! Strong stems support nicely coloured blossoms with petals, pointing in all kinds of directions – like our thinking should do!