For many years I photographed flowers and plants of
Hawai‘i as part of a
search for beauty and sensuality in the black and
white photograph. Some
of the images were made where the plants grew - in a
friend’s yard or by
the side of the road. Others were made indoors in a
studio setting - all
spontaneously and by natural light.
Like human skin, textures of stone, paper and metal,
the surfaces of flowers
and plants are fine modulators of light. They
allowed me to explore
elements of light, form, texture and space, as well
as emotional feelings of
beauty and sensuality.
When the flower prints were first exhibited,
Honolulu Advertiser art writer
Joan Rose said:
“His close-up studies of tropical foliage and
flowers emphasize their
formal qualities. The works have the sensual
elegance and visual clarity
of the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe with an even
more understated
quality.”
