Hemerocallis 1 (Daylily 1) from the series Deadheading

By Wolf Kettler

The series Deadheading documents the fragile and transient beauty of decay by recording one phase in the cycle of growth, prime, death and rebirth. What we may perceive as dead, untidy, undesirable and imperfect is, in fact, nature’s magnificence. (We find all these principles also in the concept of wabi-sabi.) Perfection as we understand it is an entirely artificial (i.e. human-made and therefore un-natural) concept.

Deadheading is the gardener’s caring act of removing dead flowers from a plant before they set seeds to encourage the plant to re-flower. This pleases the viewer’s senses but, much more importantly, creates more nectar for the wildlife, in particular the pollinators, who then pollinate other plants.

Many plants (not all) respond to deadheading by re-flowering. Of the plants photographed, the poppy, for instance, would not normally require deadheading.

The series consists of currently thirteen colour photographs. It was created in July and September to October 2020 in my studio using plants from my own garden. In each case, the photograph was made within minutes of deadheading. The photographs are not, as such, retouched. If there was a spot on a petal, I did not remove it. A speck of soil I kept, and if there was an insect, I left it and later resettled it in the garden.

The paper used for prints from this series is Awagami Kozo Thick White. Kozo, the fibre from the mulberry tree, is the most traditional fibre used in Japanese papermaking. The fibres are much longer than those from materials used in Western papers. They produce exceptionally strong paper. The beauty of this paper is captivating, its feel sensuous.

Despite its name, at a weight of 110gsm this is not a thick paper for Western understanding. This paper still retains some slight, graceful translucency if backlit. It is an excellent example of the delicate-yet-strong paradox. Whilst in the West we think that only thick paper is good paper, the techniques for making thin papers show the real skills of the papermaker.

A paper of this calibre will always display a certain amount of variation from one sheet to another. Some minute irregularity in the pulp or the occasional tiny fleck may be visible. This is not a fault but a result of the paper making process, which marks it out over the sterility of mass produced papers.

The "product images" in the listing are photographs of an actual print, made from the first printing. The edition number is therefore not necessarily representative of the print that is offered for sale. The first image in the listing is the correct reference for colour, brightness and contrast, etc.

Prints ship in a box and are unframed. The dimensions quoted are the size of the paper. There is a white margin around the actual image.