This week, Monique and I have both photographed flowers not necessarily considered beautiful, not in the traditional sense anyway. Mine is of dandelion seeds, and although I snapped a number of more colourful flowers that day (see my Instagram feed), this was my favourite photo. I like the way the light highlights the white seeds. It also reminded me of my childhood and blowing the seeds until they’d all dispersed.
Monique’s photo is of an ageing flower, and as she describes it better than I can, I’ll use her words:
‘It’s easy to take photos of flowers when they are at their best. This flower reminds me of how we, as a society, tend to idolise youth and beauty, whatever that means to us. We overlook the ageing and the aged. This flower has a beauty of its own, even though the young, soft petals have dropped to the ground.’
Thanks, Monique, for showing me the beauty in an ageing flower.
Midweek Moment is a weekly photographic endeavour in which Monique Mulligan and I team up to share our favourite photos on our websites. It’s a way of stretching ourselves creatively and a nice distraction from writing. Click here for more of our Moments.