Deadheading

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 (1). 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. (2)

Many plants (not all) respond to deadheading by re-flowering. Of the plants photographed, the poppy, for instance, or the verbena would not normally require deadheading because their flowers would not re-grow.

The series consists of 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 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. 

Click on an image to see it bigger.

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(1) We find all these principles also in the concept of wabi-sabi.
(2) If we wiped out the human species, nothing negative of any significance would happen. On the contrary. If we did the same to the insects, most life on earth would end.

PRINTS

Prints in a limited edition of six are available to buy. The prints are produced in-house by myself. They are numbered and signed and come with a Certificate of Authenticity. For this edition I have chosen Kozo paper from the Japanese paper mill Awagami in A3 size. Read more about this paper here.

To buy prints, click on a photograph below and hover your pointer over it to bring up the description and the buy this limited edition print link, or go straight to this collection at Saatchi Art.