Steven Hopkin Jones
2 April 2005 - 21 May 2005

Images of decay are seldom associated with beauty. The thought of dying flowers conjures up many negative ideas. Steven Hopkin-Jones’ work inverts these common assumptions. His floral portraits display the power to confound our expectations, presenting us with images of beauty hidden within ruin.

Here, domestic blooms take on unrecognisable forms in death, tulips twist around themselves – similar in life, they now each take on a unique identity, abstract forms emerging as they wither. We bring flowers into our homes, only to discard them once they have lost their bloom. They are no longer of any use to us, we think. It is at this moment, the photographer finds them at their most appealing. He has said of his subjects: ‘They’ve still got character, perhaps more. They’re almost striving to remain beautiful.’ These photographs may help unlock our appreciation of that character when we next encounter it in the everyday.

Mark Jones
Art Historian and Journalist