The Art of Seeing

Ben Brain explores plant portraits

ne of the highlights of my photographic calendar is judging the International Garden Photographer of the Year contest. I wouldn’t lay any claims to garden photography being my area of expertise, so I’m doubly honoured every time I’m asked. Inspired by the jaw-dropping images I’ve been looking at, I thought I’d offer up one of my own attempts from the garden.

I made this image of a rose a few years ago and recently stumbled across it on my hard drive. I felt it stood the test of time and still liked it; it seemed relevant. I was reminded of the wise words of a fellow IGPOTY judge and garden photographer extraordinaire, Clive Nichols. He once described to me during a workshop that the key to successful plant photography is seeking to express the specimen’s personality: a portrait of a plant, if you like. This idea really struck a chord with me, and changed the way I photographed plants, flowers and trees.

Initially, I was drawn to the graphic shapes and harsh brutality of this rose stem. The sheer sharpness of the thorns was enticing and dangerous, but also beautiful. I like to subvert expectations, so I revelled in the idea of totally excluding the flower – which I feel is over-rated. I find it interesting that one of the world’s arguably most beautiful flowers, an ages-old symbol of love and romance, also has a dangerous and thorny side. Does this reflect the human condition? I’m not sure, but it’s something to think about.

To further emphasise the harshness of the stem, I isolated it from the background with a piece of white card, and created a tall vertical crop. It seemed natural to convert the near-monochromatic raw file to black and white. I used a ring flash to accentuate the details. The flash’s hard light reinforced the stem’s grittiness with forensic clarity.

I find this harshness beautiful in its own right. I also find this aspect of the rose’s personality infinitely more interesting and beautiful than the superficial, fleeting allure of the flower.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

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