In the winter of 2003 a friend gave me a small leaf, weathered, dried, delicate and beautiful. It reminded me of gossamer in its intricate detail.  In capturing the image, I selected the less conventional flatbed scanner over camera. After many attempts, scanning something is like photographing someone’s face while looking at the back of their head. I created what was to me an astoundingly, delicate image.

That and my interest in the garden began a preoccupation with botanical images. My wife was a gardener and she maintained a wonderful and exotic garden around our house. My wife passed away in 1996 and I was left with the garden responsibly. I appreciate the idea of tilling the soil, planting seedlings or bulbs and nurturing them to maturity. 

However, my attempts at gardening meet with meager results. I have a brown not a green thumb. 

After several years of my attempts, I turned to a professional. As he reviewed the garden, he commented that I had a lot of drought resistant plants. To which I responded, “Yes, the ones that survived”.

As I began to capture my botanical images, I found I was drawn to what lies within, threw or around the beauty of the flowers and plants. Most often the images that called to me where those that were beautiful, sensual, exotic, or curious. I sliced the Protea in half to discover some human like qualities of a rib cage and severed spinal cord.  As this body of work developed, I began to reflect on what these images said to me.  It is an interesting mixture of beauty and the slightly disturbing. It occurred to me that I’ve been exploring the relationship of the garden and botanicals, my wife’s death and my interest in medical photography (I have a degree in Bio-Medical photography). Within beauty lies mystery.