For my final project responding to the theme Origins I intend to explore life cycles, mortality and the inevitability of decay by photographing flowers, documenting their deterioration in a domestic setting. I find it fascinating that the beginning of life coincides with the commencement of decline and this is something I aim to explore throughout this project.

This idea was inspired by Celine Marchbank, particularly her Tulip series, where she uses flowers to reflect personal loss and the quiet progression of morality. I am also influenced by Alexamder James Hamilton’s modern approach to Vanitas, where he uses flowers and other symbolic objects to reference tradition and emphasize the impermanence of life. In addition, Robert Mapplethorpe’s work has informed my visual approach, particularly his use of dark minimalist backgrounds and dramatic lighting to isolate the subject and create a sense of intensity. Their approaches have informed my decision to use a domestic location, varied angles and controlled lighting, alongside subtle Vanitas elements such as glass, petals and water to create conceptual depth.

For my final outcome, I plan to produce a physical installation of around 20-30 prints, displayed so that the first image connects to the last to symbolise cyclical life processes. I am going to arrange my images to transition from their peak/bloom through their decline and fragmentation before looping back to the beginning. The variety of angles, scale and abstraction aim to capture and highlight the process of decay in a creative way, enabling the viewer to consider the certainty of death in relation to origin.

Through this project, I intend to create a conceptually thoughtful, technically defined production of work that exposes the fragility of the life cycle, connecting domestic intimate environment with vanitas symbolism and the theme Origins.