Portraits of Passion and Other Dalliances

About the Book

Actually, there is but one Dahlia represented among these 76 plates. Whereas the genus Passiflora is disproportionately featured with 13 different species.

If one is looking for a book about identifying different flowers, this is not the book for you. If, on the other hand, one is looking for a picture book celebrating the singular beauty, pattern, color, and structure of certain particular flowers that have appealed to this photographer over the years, then keep reading (and looking).

What do I know about flowers? Very little it turns out. Neither botonist nor horticulturist, I’m not even a florist, but as a photographer, I do know what “catches my eye,” excites me, and/or stimulates me enough to do the work required.

As a photographer, it has always been my belief that if the imagery is powerful enough, any accompanying text is redundant, unnecessary, or distracting. But how many books does one see these days, besides exhibition catalogues or monographs that exclude all text? Besides that, when I see a photography book that interests me (not too often), obviously the pictures come first, but there is always the question of who is this photographer and how did they arrive at this point.

By now the reader must be getting some sense that this book is more about the photographer than the photographs, so if my words are not directly related to the pictures, at least one will come away with a fair understanding of my philosophy of photography.

Even in college, my thesis was about the subjectivity of perception so for quite some time it has been my feeling that we all “see” (perceive) differently. In graduate school (Rhode Island School of Design, 1966-1968) while reading THE DAYBOOKS OF EDWARD WESTON, my greatest influence, I very much resonated with his stated desire “to reveal the essence of the thing” and “to perceive more clearly than the eye can see.”

Taking the time for close observation, my subjects often reveal themselves in wonderous ways. As a kind of “visual organizer,” I also closely identify myself with Weston’s contention that “composition is the strongest way of seeing.”

Whether sheer escapism from modern alienation, flower pornography (as one friend has suggested), or simply an album of close encounters of the floral kind, here is an offering of my best flower images.

One of my teachers (Minor White, 1908-1976) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1966, taught us that if you can quiet yourself down enough to make a connection with the subject, and everything else is just right, the resulting photograph can be therapeutic; that is my goal.


                                                                                              TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Photographically, at least in terms of equipment, I am a dinosaur. The 35mm camera I use (Leicaflex SL-2) hasn’t been made for 30 years. For all close-up and macro work the 60 mm lens (usually with 2x-extender) is utilized. Other Leitz lenses include 21, 35, 90, and 250 mm. Whenever feasible a tripod is used so the longer exposures, necessitated by closing the lens down (f/l6) for maximum depth of field, are usually not a problem unless the wind is blowing.

All work is by natural light; no flash, no filters. For the most part this is table-top photography (I often use a trash can or improvise with whatever is at hand).

A cut bloom (yes! as one incredulous grower exclaimed, I work with dead flowers) is turned every-which-way with one eye shut so as to more closely replicate the camera’s mono-vision and then carefully placed on black velvateen or some natural form (coral, piece of bark, etc.) spray painted matte black. This is then positioned in most instances so my subject is back lit, thereby standing out from the background.

Transparency film has been used for all exc