August Magnolia / by Ron Cowie

I have a small magnolia tree growing in my backyard. I can see it from my desk, and have often said “Gosh, that would be nice to photograph,” but never did because, well, laziness, I suppose. One sunny day last week, after being sick of just looking at it, I took action. I set up a white seamless behind it, brought out my medium and large format cameras, and made a few shots. I’m glad I did. I like the high key element that really separates the living plant from its environment. Nature is a lot more graphic than we give it credit.

Most of my personal artwork is made using film. Not only to I find the end result more pleasing, I like the slower process. These images were made using a Hasselblad medium format camera and a Linhof 4x5 field camera. Film was Ilford Pan-F and FP4 developed in Pyro. Edited images will be for sale at Jessica Hagen Contemporary Art