Winter Rest.

My favorite photo for this month is a too-dark image of hydrangea blooms I took on a snowy afternoon last December.

As I always rely on ambient light for photography, I placed the small bouquet of flowers that included this stalk of hydrangea blooms in the snowy light streaming through the window of my living room and began to shoot. There was not much light, but I didn’t let that deter me – I am always curious what can be done with less than perfect conditions. And as expected, the photos were dark, and the petals could barely be seen. But I was intrigued - in fact, I loved the darkness. Not sure why I was loving these images so much - as they were so imperfect and hard to see - I kept shooting, caring not about composition or what or why I was capturing, only entranced in the experience and irony of these sweet flowers in the snowy darkness.

But what is this darkness and what I am trying to say? I was given the advice to lighten them, so they could be seen, but I resisted. That ruined them…Why didn’t I want these blossoms to be seen?

Looking at these a month later, I can understand what they are about… it’s about nature taking a winter rest.

I am no fan of winter, really. I have invented a few photo projects that can only be done in winter to get me outside, but if I just went with my natural instincts, I would spend the winter months under a blanket, by my fireplace, reading a book, and tinkering with photos taken in warmer times. But there are photos to take, and I think these images are reminders of that – to embrace the muted beauty of the winter, when light and everything around it is in its restful state, withdrawn and not wanting to be noticed.

If I were to print and exhibit these as a series, I think I would print them as small, dark images to convey the idea of rest and slumber. I also love the idea that viewers would need to come in close to see the blooms, and the experience would be like watching someone when they are sound asleep, with compassion for the need for rest…and a snowy quiet enveloping the exhibition space.