An Introduction to Intimate Abstractions
An introduction to Intimate Abstractions
Fires of Prometheus/Intimate Abstractions
An abstract photograph of a tulip.
Intimate Abstractions is where flower photography all started for me. I started this series when Bryce and I were in graduate school, and Intimate Abstractions was my thesis.
I chose to photograph flowers to express my feelings of separation from nature, photographing flowers was a way to overcome that feeling. When I started photographing flowers, I did so to escape the city and the claustrophobia I felt with buildings towering above me. I would walk through San Francisco, where we went to school, and see the streets lined with potted flowers, parks built in the shadow of skyscrapers, and trees growing in cement containers on the 35th floor of buildings - all this so that people could be in the city and still feel as if they were, in some way, connected to nature. Living in a big city, and being right downtown, I was deeply missing my connection with nature.
Intimate Abstractions is a series of images that explore the inner beauty of flowers. Each photograph reveals provocative and hidden forms, buried deep within the flower. The images show a diverse mixture of color and texture within the forms. Using a shallow depth of field, the eye is led into and around the images. This series invites you to explore flowers up close and in a unique way. These abstractions invoke feelings and images that you can find within our world and beyond. This portrayal of our universe lies within the flower, waiting to be discovered. Through creating these abstract photographs I was expressing my feelings of separation from nature, my isolation in the concrete maze of reality.
Taking the time to closely view the intricate details, such as the twist of the petals and their rich colors drew me into their alluring depths. This everyday object has had a profound impact on my life which gives me peace of mind and relaxes my soul.
