As I am sitting down to write this text I realise that is has been a long time since my last post. Whilst I was busy creating, life in a world with coronavirus and lockdowns has meant existing in a bubble, from which communicating with the outside world seemed increasingly less important. They say that the renewed restrictions, towards which we are heading rapidly, may last well into the next year. I wonder how this will affect life in a bubble.

Today I would like to announce a project, which I created just after (the first phase of) lockdown. This new body of work is entitled Deadheading.

The series 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. 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.

The series consists of eleven colour photographs. It was created in July and September 2020 in my studio using plants from my own garden. In each case, the photograph was made within minutes of deadheading.

The series Deadheading marks the start of a cycle of things very wabi sabi, and with it the cycle of life, balance, renewal and our duty to do more to look after our planet.

See the project here. Prints from this series will be available to order shortly.