A childhood surrounded by flowers, remembers Bruce Boyd. His mother bought and arranged them in the house, his father painted them and hung the pictures on the wall. Boyd Junior was neither a florist nor a painter. He draws with light. For his work as a photographer he was inspired, among other things, by the works of the Japanese floral artist Azuma Makoto and the artist Kenji Shibata. The first binds floral sculptures, the other is known for his photographs of frozen flowers.
Boyd and his girlfriend, the artist Tharien Smith, in turn add a new level to the art of the two Japanese. They arrange flowers, freeze them and then dip the block of ice at dawn or at sunrise in streams, puddles, swimming pools or plastic tubs.
Why do you do that? In the water, the ice blocks jump. The random cracks provide a unique image that Boyd can not fully determine in his appearance: "I like the unpredictability, it's as if science and nature blend into art."
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Beauties in the ice: pictures of frozen flowersThey pick the flowers for their work in their garden in Cape Town or nearby. Rarely do they buy copies at a local market. Smith then drapes the plants in shallow containers, fills in water and places them in the freezer. One day later new water comes after. The process lasts around three days.
Each block of ice looks different, not only because of the bubbles and cracks in the ice. Some flowers wilt or stain the ice with their pollen. "It's never perfect and always different," says Boyd. Only every fifth picture succeeds.
So far, the two have photographed some 150 arrangements for their series "Zero Degrees" - and they want to continue. Boyd and Smith do not just freeze the flowers because they look so pretty. "In a way," says the photographer, "we try to keep it forever through our images."