Mandahlia: Beauty in balance

Mandahlia began during the final months of my father’s life. He had always been a keen gardener, entering his flowers in our local horticultural society show and taking enormous pleasure in the prizes he won. As his illness progressed and he was no longer able to get into his garden, I began photographing dahlias, partly to show him how they were doing and partly as a respite from the difficulties of caring for someone with a terminal illness.

What started during that period gradually became a way of looking more closely at their extraordinary symmetry, repeating patterns and almost architectural construction. Photographed in isolation against black, each bloom becomes something sculptural: part flower, part mandala.

I continued making the photographs after my father died. Over time, the series has become not only a study of botanical form and beauty, but a quiet way of maintaining a connection with him.

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