Ghost Flowers Process
The Ghost Flowers series started with a project in winter when an amaryllis was
blooming, bringing a daily play of life to our chilly living room. From stalk and bud
to a slowly unfolding bloom, to its peak display of white petals and vivid pistils and
stamens, through its slow fade to—not death—but renewal. It was this daily and
close-up experience that led me to photograph the amaryllis bloom through its
cycle and begin thinking, as spring approached in California, how the other blossoms
around our coastal community could be captured. In order to get up close and very
personal with the blossoms, many of which were very small and fragile, I decided
to use a flatbed scanner instead of a DSLR with macro-lens. This choice resulted in
two fortuitous results that make the Ghost Flowers Collection convey the feelings
associated with yugen.
Faded Hibiscus
Ghost Flowers Collection
The Ghost Flower Collection is a subset of the Yugen Photography portfolio. For
the last year I have been working with high-resolution images of flower blossoms.
The goal is to reveal their inner yugen, the uniqueness of these often tiny (dime/
quarter-sized) creations of nature that are here for a brief time and then return to
Gaia. The Japanese have long considered the cherry blossom as a perfect symbol of
impermanence. Every blossom is different, but in their springtime frenzy of bloom,
multitudes of petals on branches blend like dabs of paint in an Impressionist painting,
no single one distinguishable — until they take flight, floating back to the earth,
becoming individuals again.
When seen individually, blossoms become something else altogether. Enlarged,
unfolded, details accentuated, tiny blossoms reveal the patterns and intricate
structures regularly seen by bees, birds, and creatures that depend on plants for life.
Yet these details, their subtle beauty, are often visually glossed over by the very beings
that cultivate them. Upon expending their energy of attraction, fertilized or not, the
blossom slowly fades, displaying the beauty of impermanence. From bud to bloom to
seed, therein lies the reveal of Ghost Flowers.
Peony Panic