Nititus Mors Mortis/Flowering Death (2002-present)

“What flower or plant would you choose for your funeral wreath and why?”

 This question was my sitter’s introduction to the project Nititus Mors Mortis (Flowering Death). It is a question that appears innocent until the hidden meaning of the subject is fully explored. Photography since its inception around 1827 has documented many subjects, death being the most prominent in the nineteenth century. The tradition of photographing the dead was just as fashionable in Victorian Britain as in America. When the practice of photographing the dead declined in America towards the end of the nineteenth century photographers turned their attention to the floral tributes sent by those unable to attend funerals. In this project I asked sitters to question their mortality by thinking about their own funerals, as traditionally the decisions for a funeral are not made by the sitter before death, but by friends and family afterwards. I did not allow sitters to answer me immediately, encouraging them to take time over their answers and the reason behind their choice. Once sitters had chosen their flower and decided on their reason, I photographed their hands and the selected flower or plant. (The image of a laid out corpse holding a flower is common, hence the choice of composition.) I worked in black and white, as it evoked early post-mortem photographic portraits. Medium format lent itself well to the composition as it helped viewers to focus on the flower and hands. The finished photographic print is hung alongside the sitter’s reason for their choice of plant or flower, it is printed on grey stonehenge paper as if carved onto a granite gravestone. This project is an exploration of the tension between life and death, the questioning of mortality, and of what individuals wish for at their own funeral before it occurs.