I have updated and added the water lilies to my website. This unintentional project was one that was shot over two years as I studied the light and shadow and how they played on the lilies. I say unintentional because after I processed them I burned them to a disc and left them alone. I had hoped to print them but somehow talked out of it because you don’t show flowers in galleries. I thought at one time creating large prints on watercolor paper and float them in a matte. But as I messed with them and turned one into black and white I soon realized my vision of this project was complete.
What I love about creating black and white is the drama of the darker range of the grey scale. What I mean by that is best represented in the lighting of Film Noir. I was always attracted to the dark drama grey scale of the film Maltese Falcon. The dark black shadows to the highlights that was just above middle grey and very few white highlights. That was fine art and that was what I wanted to capture in my images but until recently I hadn’t.
Going back to when I first processed these images I kept them almost biochromatic having only the color of flower and the leaves. I was happy with them as they stood but I felt the image did not have the impact I wanted and I was not sure why. I think it was because I was too close to the images and distracted by events in my life to make the connection of switching them to black and white. And I had just started to show in a small gallery and they had already a large quantity of flower photographs so my attention was drawn away.
Now with my commitment to live in the world of Black and White I believe my images, at least these, make the impact that I was looking for and inspire me to create more. Not only the flowers but in the project, I am currently working on.
I hope you enjoy these images and if you are interested in these or any of my images to purchase for your own collection, please feel free to contact me
