Grand Alchemy

I wish I could have added Kintsugi

I wish I could have added Kintsugi gold to this flower but sadly after a few test runs it was clear its structure simply couldn’t hold it.

I am glad it didn’t work out though in hind sight, as it would have taken over the entire photograph making a fault the highlight, where this photograph is all about recovery.

This little flower was found in a beautiful garden not far from where I live. It was about half the size of my little finger with a narrow stem that seemed barely able to hold the weight of it’s petals. It had a shape similar to a bottle brush actually.

I had drawn a loose concept about recovery. About coming from the depths of darkness and rising into the light. I had three colours ear marked for this concept, purple, black and Kintsugi gold. I wasn’t sure of the composition or the exact flower. I wasn’t sure if I was going to go for a close section of a flower or a full flower. I left that on the back burner and hoped it would become clearer are I progressed.

Walking through my friends garden I collected a few things that caught my eye. The flower for The Quintessential Filly and also the feather for The Humble Hunter were found at the same time. Bringing my collection back to the studio, I looked at each item to see if it was a possibility for a concept in the works, or if a whole new concept was about to emerge.

Going through my visual diary

Going through my visual diary I saw the concept looking for a purple flower. I picked up my black card, laid the flower down flat and began exploring different angles shooting from above. What I had was just not working though. Painfully dragging yourself out of the depths of darkness is a long, hard process and the angle and composition I had was not showing that struggle anywhere near enough.

I tried introducing Kintsugi but everything about it was telling me to leave the Kintusgi out of this concept. As mentioned above, the flower also couldn’t hold the gold. The petals on this flower were yet to open and were more like gorgeous little furry paws at this stage. The gold would also be like a light shining becoming the feature of the photograph which I did not want here.

The more I studied the flower stem the more the concept came to life. This concept was to be dedicated to those who had been severely crushed, significantly hurt, tragically suppressed. It was to tell the story of those who despite their darkest days they knew if they worked at being happy they could achieve it. It takes lot to do this. When you’re in the darkness you have a choice to go one of two ways.

This composition needed to have the flower appearing to rise. It needed to be headed in an upward direction with light softly falling mainly on the uppermost section giving a tunnel like effect to demonstrate where it had been how much effort was required to rise.

Having a bottle brush structure enabled this composition perfectly! I knew how I was going to create this photograph! It is always an amazing feeling when I see a concept come to life.

Grand Alchemy’s story is below

With the intelligence to identify the need to transform.
Strength and independence rises and reaches,
driven to change and be placed to exist in better days.

Sometimes going through this process can be a bit of a blur. It can take months even years. It can involve set backs and regression. The darkness can test you and challenge continually your decision to leave, and if you have what it takes to do so.

Coming out of this darkness is a massive achievement. It is something to be proud of and being reminded of this achievement can help us when life challenges us again.

The colour black gives us strength and symbolises grief, intelligence and empowerment.
The colour purple makes us feel independent, and ambitious also symbolising respect and intelligence.

Black cards

This photograph is a darker toned, low key image. I placed the flower on a black card and had it surrounded by more black cards. When photographing an object, placing a white card close by reflects light back onto the subject. It fills shadows and sends further light into the frame. For this photograph I wanted the opposite. Placing a black card near the flower sucks the light right out. It creates lots of darkness and shadows. I needed the lower section of the flower to be exposed to enough light to be visible but only just. I wanted the top section to be more visible and in sharp focus.

This photograph needed a lot of darkness to help place us in that darkness. The flower isn’t entirely separated from the background for the reason of demonstrating how hard it is to see anything clearly when you’re down there inthe depths of darkness. It’s murky, you fumble around as you search for a way out. You don’t find much clarity until you get start to get to the surface but even then there is still more work to do. There is always more work to do.

Being happy and secure can be something you need to work on regularly. Sometimes when you come out of the darkness, being happy is a choice you have to make regularly. Some days with much more dedication than usual.

Seeing the murkiness in the depths can make us feel like we are drowning, it can remind us not only of how far we have come but also that we simply don’t want to go back there. We want to remain where the light is. That is where the focus is.

About the lines

The flower in this photograph is on an angle. When a line is completely vertical it can seem stagnant, like it isn’t moving in any direction it is just simply there. This photograph required movement. I needed movement to be felt for a few reasons. Curved and angled lines show us movement, a direction to head in, a progression that hasn’t stopped. There is always somewhere to go, something to strive for.

The top of the flower that is in focus and is the brightest is in the centre of the composition to allow lots of clear space above. If the top of the flower was towards the top of the frame it would have no where further to go, no room to move forward. It was important that there was plenty of room available to keep moving forward. Signifiying the future. Allowing more space to grow and achieve. We all will experience darkness in our lives of varying levels. It is important to know that this often doesn’t last, there is help available and it will hopefully only be a part of our lives, not a defining part.

The space around the flower also known as negative space gives us hope and allows room for the ambition the colour black gives us.

To anyone who has come through significant challenges please know how inspiring you are. How different your journey is and has been to any one else’s. And how much respect I have for those who identify the need to transform, and find even the smallest amount of strength and drive to work to be placed to exist in better days. I take my hat off to you.

I hope you enjoy this article and my artwork, Grand Alchemy as much as I enjoyed making for you. If you feel you need for extra assitance, please be sure to speak to one of the lovely people at Lifeline, someone to speak to, a shoulder to lean on and extra support given can be exactly what we need.

Thank you so much for being here,

The Humble Hunter x

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