
Dale
Grant's
photographs of flowers
are exquisite: soothing and easy on the eye, particularly in these times of self-isolation, quarantine, and loss. They look like 17th-century Dutch paintings, still lifes executed in oil paint a few centuries ago.
And yet they're contemporary creations. Dale has recently published a whole book of them, titled "Fading Beauty." Here are a few more of the images in the book:

s.
Dale's fascination with flowers is no coincidence. He grew up in lush natural surroundings -- on the island of Nassau, in the Bahamas -- and enjoyed what he describes as a magical childhood, spent out of doors in year-round sunshine.
His first memory of flowers dates back to when he was 6 years old and staying at his grandparents' home, as often happened. "I remember my grandmother waking up early around 6 am each morning to pick the colorful hibiscus flowers that grew in her backyard before she went off to work. Together we would arrange the hibiscus flowers around the house. I treasure that memory," he recalls.
What undoubtedly also led Dale to photography was that his own mother was a studio portrait photographer, and in the late sixties, took a series of pictures of dahlias. "I remember looking at these photos every now and then throughout the years, and finding it odd that she photographed flowers, because it was so outside of her genre," he says. "It was not until I was producing my book that I had a lightbulb moment, and saw how my mother's only flower series somehow influenced my photography."
Dale came to photography in a roundabout way. He was studying International Relations at the American University of Paris when he was introduced by friends to a fashion photographer and began assisting him on photo shoots. He realized that he had found his calling, and became a fashion, still life and portrait photographer, working internationally for a number of magazines and fashion houses.
As a photographer, Dale (pictured below) is known for his unique lighting style, which he puts to use in the flower series. What makes the series so delicate and poetic is that the flowers have bloomed and are beginning to wilt. "Flowers all begin life looking rather similar," he explains. "But it is at the moment when they begin to wither and eventually die that we witness their true individual beauty."
Dale's book can be ordered here: https://dale-grant.format.com/
Dale's fascination with flowers is no coincidence. He grew up in lush natural surroundings -- on the island of Nassau, in the Bahamas -- and enjoyed what he describes as a magical childhood, spent out of doors in year-round sunshine.
His first memory of flowers dates back to when he was 6 years old and staying at his grandparents' home, as often happened. "I remember my grandmother waking up early around 6 am each morning to pick the colorful hibiscus flowers that grew in her backyard before she went off to work. Together we would arrange the hibiscus flowers around the house. I treasure that memory," he recalls.
What undoubtedly also led Dale to photography was that his own mother was a studio portrait photographer, and in the late sixties, took a series of pictures of dahlias. "I remember looking at these photos every now and then throughout the years, and finding it odd that she photographed flowers, because it was so outside of her genre," he says. "It was not until I was producing my book that I had a lightbulb moment, and saw how my mother's only flower series somehow influenced my photography."
Dale came to photography in a roundabout way. He was studying International Relations at the American University of Paris when he was introduced by friends to a fashion photographer and began assisting him on photo shoots. He realized that he had found his calling, and became a fashion, still life and portrait photographer, working internationally for a number of magazines and fashion houses.
As a photographer, Dale (pictured below) is known for his unique lighting style, which he puts to use in the flower series. What makes the series so delicate and poetic is that the flowers have bloomed and are beginning to wilt. "Flowers all begin life looking rather similar," he explains. "But it is at the moment when they begin to wither and eventually die that we witness their true individual beauty."
Dale's book can be ordered here: https://dale-grant.format.com/