hippeastrum, withering
this flower a few weeks later….
bittersweet beauty in the dying,
like the transparent skin and veins
of an ancient elder’s hands
March 4, 2010 in Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena Marja-Leena Rathje
on printworks and other passions
by Marja-Leena
Charming, fragile and so beautiful!
I am also interested in details although I don´t have a macro lens – yet.
The light in the background, the colours of the gently wilting petal exquisitely combine. These stay with you. Dürer’s famous hand sketch comes to mind. I seem to remember that those hands were his brother’s … I’ll have to check up on that.
Beautiful colors and textures — all belying the fact of decay.
beautiful. I liked your linking the imagery to an elder’s hands, as the veins of the petal/leaf do mirror the patterns of the spider-vein like veining of old hands.
Leena, kiitos! I’m so in love with macro photography, it’s letting me see more than the naked eye perceives. As an artist you too would love it.
rouchswalwe, this week I’ve been picking off the dead flowers day by day, four on one stalk. Just as I was about to trim the last one, I was struck by the late afternoon sun shining behind it and thought I’d see what the camera would find. I’m astonished and thrilled! Yes, Durer’s hands, plus a certain photographer’s work whose name I don’t remember…
Maria, yes, belying the fact that the flower was no longer beautiful, almost completely brown, until I looked through the lens, with that backlighting. The colours and veins surprised me.
Taina, thanks, glad you like it! The veins, crinkled edges and colours also make me think of some gorgeous hand-dyed fabrics I’ve seen done by fibre artists.
It’s somehow the element of mortality which renders beauty engaging.
It does remind me of fabric art. So delicate.
Luminous.
“of an ancient elder’s hands” – so true.
While the beauty of the ancient elder’s wisdom will survive their passing.
Olga, Hattie, Dave…. thanks for your appreciative comments!
Anil …”while the beauty of the ancient elder’s wisdom will survive” – how true!
It’s very beautiful. I enjoy seeing how the macro lens makes the micro seem monumental.
Susan, thanks. That’s well said, and reminds me that I’ve wondered why it’s called a macro lens. Shouldn’t it be “micro’?
Like veins. But do they serve a similar purpose to veins, bringing sustenance to different parts of the flower? I am not quite clear.
Joe, that’s a tough question! I know the veins in a leaf do it, but the flower’s main role is reproduction. One would think the veins are also bringing nutrients to the flower. I often think of these veins, in both leaf and flower, as kind of a structural or architectural framework. Isn’t biology and how it all began and evolved amazing!?