"Hello Darkness" reflects on my attempt to escape the gloominess of the Covid-19 pandemic though light and the comfort of nature. At a time where many artists have felt a deeper connection with the natural world, finding a sense of normalcy that is missing in other dimensions, I myself have found solace in the observation of the natural life cycle.
I have been particularly attracted to bearded irises (irises Germanica 'hello darkness’) that have grown in my garden for years. Each stem produces successive blooms and while new flowers develop luxuriantly, older ones dry up and die synchronously.
Their blossoms coincided with the beginning of my lockdown on March 13, 2020. The spectacle of their delicate balance between blossom and rotting has resonated with me in an unexpected way, in time of the pandemic. The subject of the photographs in my series may be flowers but to me, they are also images of the passage of time and death, serendipity, conflict, geometry and poetry. Technically, the production of these images involved a number of different approaches, such as multi-exposure, movement and solarization, that allowed me to explore creatively a traditional subject.
