CAGES

Seed pods are containers carrying the potential for life.

This body of work reveals the hidden architecture of the natural world through close examination of leaves, husks, seed pods and flowers. Stripped back to their skeletal essentials; translucent membranes, branching veins, lantern-shaped forms. these subjects are lifted out of their natural context and suspended against stark black and white backgrounds that strip away everything but structure and light. A recurring palette of blue, purple and pink luminescence gives the work an almost otherworldly quality, as though the specimens are being illuminated from within rather than photographed from without. Together, the images invite a slower, more deliberate kind of looking. A looking that finds extraordinary complexity and beauty in the organic geometries we ordinarily walk past without a second glance.

Like us they are also vulnerable to the forces of nature, such as wind, water, fire and predation. Some are dispersed far and wide, others remain close to home. They are beautiful, intricate but durable. Like cages lost in space I think they are a subtle metaphor for the nature of human existence. Shooting things like these remind me that the universal scale runs both ways, equally vast. They reflect the diversity, uncertainty and fragility of our lives.

All these are images are heavily edited in post. Different sections are stacked and masked in, then massive colour shifts are applied by various means. They were all shot on the Fuji GFX100s with extension tube on the GF 45-100 f4 and an adapted Nikkor 85mm swing lens. They were back lit on a light table and ring light was users as the key, then snoot for the fill. All post production was done in ACR and Photoshop.