Botanica Magnifica | Exquisite Photographs of Single Blooms of the World's Rarest Plants.

What is surprising about Jonathan Singer's  photographs ?  It is his painstaking work in cataloguing which has been  acclaimed by  the international scientific community . What is surprising is the awe and wonder we feel when looking at the eternal beauty of nature’s creations, the world of plants and flowers in this case — awe and wonder we all feel, I believe. But what is most surprising and makes this man and his work unique is a quality  shared by photographers and artists.

I imagine we all agree that what turns mere work into a work of art is the sense of fulfilment, its rare perfection, its uniqueness and universal value. This is what  we feel looking at a work of art, although we may not know why. This is what you may feel today looking at JS’s pictures
We can safely  assume that photographers and artists journey towards success and greatness by moving from a past, distant experience, from a childhood emotion, from a relevant, at times upsetting,  event which has been  buried amongst  their early memories.

Jonathan is quite open about it. He says his love for nature and flowers dates back to when he was five and, to be honest, this is not so extraordinary. We can all recall the wonder and awe  we used to feel as children.
What does not happen so often, however, is being able to re-live later on, as adults that early, magic moment buried in our past.

Johnatan studied medicine, became a surgeon, married and lived his life as most of us do. Yet, in all that time, the memory of his first meeting with nature and its beauty did not die out. Years spent growing and developing did not erase that very first memory filled with  awe and wonder. I believe each  of his shots is that magic moment reborn.
I believe with each  picture J takes of a flower  he is in actual fact re-capturing, as an adult, what he felt as a child.  What is so special is being able to interpret childhood magic with the style and substance of adulthood.

It all seems to trigger from  an ability to go deep into one’s past in order to dig out and give new life to distant memories by filtering them through one’s experience  and knowledge.
Childhood memories become part of one’s  adulthood  as an artist.
This process, this re-birth into an artistic shape is the essence of a work of art.

What is surprising about these pictures??? is the childlike marvel they show as if we were seeing a flower for the first time.

What  you will experience here, today, the, is  something we all share as men and women: distant, faded memories  brought to new life and colour and turned into works of art.

I hope you will enjoy the show.