transparent roses - glass photographic series by alexander james

29,470 articles

SHARE AND PROMOTE YOUR WORK

since 1999, home of design culture, designboom has been the world's
first online magazine. we welcome readers to submit projects. START UPLOADING

transparent roses - glass photographic series by alexander james

Nov 28, 2012

first image
C-type print, mounted to polished aluminum from the 'glass' series by alexander james
framed behind ArtGlass AR in deep maple wood
dimensions: 60 * 60, 100 * 100 and 140 * 140 cm
edition of 10 with 2 artists proofs
photo © 2012 alexander james, distil ennui studio

london-based photographer alexander james has begun releasing images from his 'glass' series - a collection of photographs born from a process
that naturally removes all the pigment from the capillaries in rose petals, developed specially by the artist. james is well known for his underwater imagery,
with this latest series involving a complex technique that over time replaces the flower's coloring with highly purified water,
leaving behind only the skeletal fibre and plant structure visible - all while the plant still lives and grows.
the striking imagery immortalizes the ethereal billowing blooms underwater without the use of post production
the gossamer forms alluding to the richness and fragility of life through the language of nature.

james says of his work:

'I create meticulously crafted sculptural scenes immersed in huge dark tanks of water. for the most part I destroy these creations,
leaving behind only the medium format transparencies as documents of these acts. the introduction of water in this way serves its
purpose both symbolically and as the functional device through which I achieve the painterly effect of these works.

these images are always presented ‘as-shot’ without the use of post production; either traditional or digital.
it is this dedication to in-camera purity that establishes a predominant focal point for my practice.
I want to cross out the boundaries between sculpture, painting and photography; the more obscured they are, the more you will want to explore.

for me the quality of the work and the purity of the process is paramount, distilling elements out with the strong use of deep blacks;
conveying rich layers of meaning in what at first appear deceptively simple images.'

the process naturally removes all the pigment from the capillaries in rose petals, developed specially by the artist
photo © 2012 alexander james, distil ennui studio

the photos are created through a complex technique that over time replaces the flower's coloring with highly purified water
photo © 2012 alexander james, distil ennui studio

the striking imagery captures the ethereal billowing blooms underwater without the use of post production
photo © 2012 alexander james, distil ennui studio

the gossamer forms allude to the richness and fragility of life, and mortality through the language of nature
photo © 2012 alexander james, distil ennui studio

lara db

11.28.12

incredible

dbkii says:

Nov 29, 2012

Reply
Very special and beautiful, I have never seen anything like it!! Well done! And I love the fact that there is no postproduction involved.

Andrea Ventling says:

Nov 29, 2012

Reply
Tenderly beautiful.

sandra says:

Dec 09, 2012

Reply

name (required)

e-mail (will not be published) (required)

comments policy

tips:
- to start a new line press enter
- to create a link type www

designboom's comment policy guidelines
generally speaking, if we publish something, it's because we're genuinely interested in the subject.
we hope you'll share this interest and if you know even more about it, please share!
our goal in the discussion threads is to have good conversation and we prefer constructive opinions.
we and our readers have fun with entertaining ones
. designboom welcomes alerts about typos, incorrect names, and the like.
the correction is at the discretion of the post editor and may not happen immediately.

what if you disagree with what we or another commenter has to say?
let's hear it! but please understand that offensive, inappropriate, or just plain annoying comments may be deleted or shortened.

- please do not make racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic or otherwise offensive comments.
- please don't personally insult the writers or your fellow commenters.
- please avoid using offensive words, replacing a few letters with asterisks is not a valid workaround.
- please don't include your website or e-mail address in your comments for the purpose of self-promotion.
- please respect jury verdicts and do not discuss offensively on the competition results
(there is only one fist prize, and designboom usually asks renown professionals to help us to promote talent.
in addition to the awarded designs, we do feel that almost all deserve our attention, that is why we publish
the best 100-200 entries too.)

a link is allowed in comments as long as they add value in the form of information, images, humor, etc.
(links to the front page of your personal blog or website are not okay).
unwelcome links (to commercial products or services of others, offensive material etc. ) will be redacted.
and, ...
yes, spam gets banned.
no, we do not post fake comments.

LOG IN VIA

POPULAR TODAY ART

florentijn hofman's giant rubber duck is back in town!

watch as the floating sculpture re-emerges from a lifeless water pancake into a six story rubber duck.

florentijn hofman's giant rubber duck: the aftermath

after dominating the scenery of victoria harbour just over a week ago, hong kong's resident yellow >>

ai wei wei releases first heavy metal music video

the world's favorite chinese dissident has released 'dumbass', his first heavy metal music video.

under the shadow of the drone by james bridle

under the shadow of the drone by james bridle is a is a one-to-one representation of an MQ-9 reaper >>

harvard researcher grows microscopic crystal flowers

a collective of microscopic flowers are produced by dissolving barium chloride and sodium silicate into >>

29,470 articles

copyright

thank you for reading designboom.
a relevant part of what you see on designboom is produced by our in-house-team of designers and architects. © designboom 1999-2012, some rights reserved. copyright of photos belong to each photographer/creative studio/company mentioned. more info here.

readers' content submissions
readers understand that all information, data, text, sound, photographs, graphics, video, postings, messages, software, tags, advertisements or other materials (content), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such content originated. this means that readers are entirely responsible for all submitted content, which is intended to be available to the general public, that you upload, post, t ransmit or otherwise make available through designboom. we do monitor and edit the submitted content, but we do not control / verify t he content posted and, as such, we do not guarantee the accuracy or integrity of it and disclaim any and all liability in connection with readers' submissions. readers understand that we are not obligated t o pre-screen, regularly review, delete or otherwise change the content associated with the submitted content and / or DIY readers' submissions. we do, however, reserve the right to do so at any time in our sole discretion, for any reason or no reason, and to delete any content with or without notice. readers represent and warrant that they own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize designboom to use all trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to any and all member content to enable inclusion and use of the submitted content. designboom does not claim ownership rights over the submitted content. however, readers grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, transferable, royalty-free and non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display the submitted content, solely for the purpose for which such content was submitted or made available. under no circumstances will we be liable in any way for any content, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available through the submission system.

external links
designboom may provide links to other websites or resources. because we have no control over such resources, readers acknowledge and agree that designboom is not responsible for the availability of such external resources, and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products or other materials on or available from such resources. readers further acknowledge and agree that designboom will not be liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such resource.

by accessing the designboom publication, readers accept, without limitation or qualification, these terms of use, copyrights and our privacy policy, which is incorporated in our publication.

PRIVACY

privacy

designboom recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of all information provided by users of our web site, subscribers to our on-line education and events, recipients of our e-mail newsletter, participants of our competitions and all of our customers. we created this policy with a fundamental respect for our users’ right to privacy and to guide our relationships with our users.

signing up
for certain selected services (such as free newsletter subscriptions, competitions, on-line education courses), users must first register. recipients of our newsletter can unsubscribe using the instructions listed at the end of the e-mail newsletter. for our services that require payment (such as certain events, products and subscriptions), we do not receive and do not collect credit card information.

during registration
we ask for contact information. newsletter subscribers are required to give only their e-mail address, participants of on-line education courses, competitions and special events are asked to give also their name, age, gender and mailing address.

designboom collects information
from our website users, subscribers and customers for internal purposes. we use this information to communicate with users and provide requested services. we also collect the data for internal (and for business affiliates) audit verification purposes. we do not sell this data to third parties.

communications with us
we have features where users can submit information to us. letters to the editor and similar submissions may be made public. requests for service, support or information may be forwarded as needed to best respond to a specific request.

with whome your information is shared
when we have co-branded, or when we join with other parties to provide specific services (such as events, competitions), we may share (provide and receive) personal information with them. other than as set forth above, we do not share personally identifiable information with other companies.

security
we use reasonable precautions to protect our users’ personal information and to store it securely. the servers on which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.

NEWSLETTER

364,216 subscribers

keep upto date with recent articles and upcoming events.
to receive both newsletters please check 2 boxes.

SUBMISSIONS