The Story behind the Collection: Blooming Memories
The inspiration for Blooming Memories began with a requirement: the development of an Intermediate Thematic Portfolio for my mentorship with Bob Killen. I’ve always had a fascination with flower photography, and this project offered the perfect opportunity to explore the subject in greater depth.
Flowers have long held a powerful place in the history of art. Seventeenth-century Dutch painters used them in Vanitas still lifes to symbolize the transient nature of life. A fresh bloom could suggest innocence, purity, or beauty; a wilting flower might represent age, decay, or mortality. Even specific flowers carried symbolic meanings—roses for love, lilies for purity, sunflowers for devotion.
In photography, the evolution of floral imagery mirrors the broader development of the medium itself. What began as scientific and documentary work eventually became more expressive and artistic. Imogen Cunningham was among the first to treat flowers as interpretive subjects rather than botanical specimens.
For me, some of the most compelling floral imagery came from Robert Mapplethorpe. Though widely known for his provocative portraits of queer identity, flowers were a constant presence in his work. His treatment of them—especially the calla lily—aligned thematically with his human subjects. The calla, with its sleek, sculptural form, embodied sensuality, fragility, and otherness. His final book, Flowers, published just before his death with an introduction by Patti Smith, shows these images in a tender, elegiac light. As Smith wrote:
“He came, in time, to embrace the flower as the embodiment of all the contradictions reveling within.”
That anthropomorphic quality—the way a flower can appear to embody emotion, personality, even human form—was a major influence on this project. Humans naturally project human traits onto objects. It helps us make sense of the world, to feel connected. In Blooming Memories, I’ve used that impulse to bring emotional resonance into each image. The flowers become stand-ins for people, places, and moments from my past.
Each image in the collection is a memory made visual—composed from scratch, beginning only as a feeling or recollection in my mind. This project pushed me to develop more complex compositions. Every piece includes multiple layers: a background (from my own archive or stock photography), the flowers (the “characters” of each scene), and small symbolic objects that bring the image to life. Constructing a single image took several days of careful work in Photoshop to harmonize light, shadow, and color.
The memories captured range across the full arc of my life: early relationships, college days, friendships, love, loss, marriage, the passing of parents and siblings, and life-altering events. Some moments brought great joy; others, deep sadness. Though personal, I believe these images hold space for shared emotion—an invitation for the viewer to recognize something of their own experience within the work.
📷 View the full Blooming Memories Collection →
