John Humphrey’s pressed and named flowers

In photographer John Humphrey‘s ‘Pressed Flowers’ series he uses the scientific or vernacular name of the plant he captures. This, along with the close-up detail of the pressed flower he shoots, gives us an interesting perspective on these plants. The images feel very alive, all the more surprising considering the plants are not. He captures an interesting array of morphological detail, every one quite astonishing. Anyone familiar with herbarium specimens will know, when you press a flower and wait a few months for it to flatten, the intensity of colour tends to lessen. The method used to maintain colour is explained on My Photo School in Sue Bishop’s article ‘A Cook’s Guide to Pressed Flower Photography‘. This details John’s preparation using a microwave: 30 seconds at half-power, sandwiched in blotting paper and weighted down. He then puts the results on a light-box before taking his macro shots. His techniques is clearly important, enabling him to hold in all that colour, but knowing your subject – its name and where it came from – is surely key to achieving such beautiful results. Here are four of our favourite pieces from ‘Pressed Flowers’ below, more can be found on the artist’s website.

Names of plants in order of appearance: Centaurea, Alstromeria, Delphinium, Foxglove