The Palms #5, 30″x20″, Unframed

This photographic series captures the rare tropical palm species known as ?icuala Peltata var. Sumawongii,?known for it? large (up to 7ft diameter) flat, fan-shaped leaves. We photographed these particularly impressive specimens, with their expansive and intact leaves, in black and white to emphasize the universal pictorial appeal of their leaves?architectural structure and bold, graphic patterning. Shot with dramatic natural lighting, the images capture subtly modulating textures and line, stillness and motion, as they radiate outwards beyond the frame to evoke a sense of timeless eternity. The scale of each photograph plays off of the scale of each palm frond in a near 1:1 ratio, lending a painterly overtone to each work. This is most pronounced in Palm frond #5, the large horizontal show piece that pushes the edge of realism almost into abstraction with its dominating silhouette and dramatic contrast and the play of positive and negative space. This series of photographs takes inspiration from the still lives and botanical studies of Modern masters such as Imogen Cunningham and Irving Penn, who used the medium of black and white photography to reveal universal forms and meaning in deceptively simple subjects and compositions from nature.