Dying Flowers

Shortly before the winter holidays and the end of the year officially hit, I was wrapping up a few projects in the studio and happened upon some flowers left over from a holiday event. They had been left uncared for over a weekend and were clearly destined for the compost bin but there was still something about them that caught my eye. I had my camera with me and couldn't resist spending nearly an hour photographing them. 

I love the Dutch tradition of vanitas and, despite the lack of bugs and complete rot, these past-their-prime flowers reminded me of that tradition. I would be lying if I said I had thought of the overtly poetic end-of-the-year-death-evergreen-new-life concept as I photographed; that didn't happen until I was typing up this post. Vanitas, symbolism, nice photos, interpret them however you like, I am simply sharing this quick end of 2014 photo project with you.