Chris, thank you for the interest in it.
yes it actually does have some ideas/concepts behind it. Alot of it revolving around emotions one experiences in life, the certainty of death and life, beauty in varying forms (juxtaposition of two, etc etc)
at the risk of sharing too much... I wrote this up for a friend of mine when asked "about" the series....
Diversity is the spice of life, or so the saying goes.
I never saw myself ever being a still life photographer, I still don’t. It has never held much interest for me, there is so much out in the world for me to find and explore that remaining indoors of confined to a tiny area of visual real estate just didn’t seem all that compelling.
Then I started collecting skulls, weird ones, strange African horned animals – Bongos, Kudus, and Oryxes, all sorts of animal skulls. Knowing full well that I wanted to eventually photograph them and undoubtedly these images would fall into the realm of still life photography.
Death is an intriguing experience. Death has a strong hold on human emotion. As a species, we know it is inevitable, yet we fear it immensely. When death strikes us personally we will often avoid facing it, for it creates situations of tension, despair, and loneliness. People I have cared for in life have died, I will eternally miss them, yet I also see beauty in their passage to death. I have grown because of their deaths, opening up to intense self discovery and realization. I have learned about the complexity and beauty that lies within me and can be manifested through me.
There is considerable beauty to be found in death.
It’s obvious the beauty that is inherently found in flowers. They are all around us, on the side of the highway, on a dining room table, hanging from a porch, or resting on a gravesite. They contain an obvious statement of beauty.
These images are emotionally intense to create. I don’t partake in hunting and would likely never have bought a skull in my life were it not for my photographic passion. Nor would I have likely ever photographed flowers if it weren’t for my collection of skulls.
They are a visual juxtaposition. Each containing a beauty unique to each part, yet create a beauty far grander when joined together.
{end overly descriptive artspeak now. }
