OBSCURING NATURE

words by grace erbert.

Photographer’s Blurred Expression

Photography Trends- Transparent Layers

In recent years, a captivating trend has emerged among photographers—using glass, foggy materials, and transparent layers to obscure flowers in their projects. This artistic technique adds an element of mystery, depth, and ethereal beauty to floral photography, transforming familiar blooms into enigmatic and mesmerizing subjects. Let’s delve into the creative choices and visual allure of this trend through the lens of different photographers and their unique projects.

Sarah Moon

One photographer who has mastered the art of obscuring flowers with glass is Sarah Moon. Known for her dreamlike and poetic imagery, Moon often incorporates translucent veils and reflections in her compositions. By capturing flowers through glass, she creates a sense of distance and ambiguity, inviting viewers to contemplate the fleeting nature of beauty and the interplay between reality and illusion.

Moon’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, earning her acclaim for her artistic vision and contribution to the photography world. She continues to inspire new generations of photographers with her unconventional techniques and ability to evoke emotion and imagination through her images.

Overall, Sarah Moon’s photography is a testament to the power of creativity, imagination, and storytelling. Her blurred, impressionistic style challenges traditional notions of photography, inviting viewers to embrace the beauty of ambiguity and the limitless possibilities of visual expression.

Lisa Sorgini

In another project, photographer Lisa Sorgini explores the theme of impermanence by using foggy materials to partially obscure flowers. Her photographs evoke a sense of fleeting moments and transient beauty, reminding us of the delicate balance between life and decay. The subtle play of light and shadow through the fog adds a layer of mystery and evokes emotions of nostalgia and introspection.

Through her work, Sorgini encourages viewers to embrace moments of imperfection and transience, finding beauty in the ephemeral and the unseen. Her photographs serve as poignant reminders of the fleeting nature of life and the importance of appreciating moments of quiet beauty and contemplation.

Sander Plug and Lernert Engelbert

Exuding elegance and obscurity, Foggy Flowers is a two-photograph series by Sander Plug and Lernert Engelberts that centers on our collective outlook for the future through a blur of frosted glass. The duo, who work under Studio Lernert & Sander, unearthed the delicate shots from their archive—the images were taken in 2018 during a week-long period when they worked continuously on various projects—in May 2020 for Volkskrant Magazine, which asked them to epitomize their creative process during lockdown.

They didn’t want “to jump on the ‘look how very creative we are during this lockdown’ train,” Plug says, and despite their anachronistic context, the two-year-old series fit the studio’s perspective. “When I look back, I see that the blurry and fuzzy flowers are about ambiguity,” he writes. “It symbolizes the way we looked to the future then and how everyone sees the future now. There’s no point in worrying because no one can say how things will turn out now.”

The Greater Meaning

Each photographer’s choice of obscuring flowers with glass or foggy materials reflects their artistic vision and storytelling. Whether aiming to evoke emotions, explore themes of transience, or invite viewers to see beyond the obvious, these photographers use obscurity as a tool to engage and captivate their audience.

The allure of obscured flowers lies in their ability to evoke a sense of wonder, curiosity, and introspection. By obscuring the familiar, photographers encourage us to look closer, contemplate the unseen, and appreciate the beauty that lies beyond the surface. In a world filled with visual noise, these obscured floral compositions offer a moment of quiet contemplation and a glimpse into the hidden mysteries of nature and art.

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