Mellow Tulips

Tulips are unusual in that they retain much of their colour as the age and ultimately approach the end of their life. What's more, they acquire textures and lines that make them get even more beautiful as they age. I wanted to include tulips at all stages of the aging process, from the earliest "middle age" onwards.

As I get older myself, I am disturbed to see the world getting more and more obsessed with an unobtainable version youth. You only have to look at what "influencers" of all ages and genders post to their social media accounts to see a plasticised idealisation of youth that makes them look more like perfect androids than real human beings.

I see these photographs as an antidote to these tendencies. These tulip petals are not beautiful despite their age… they're beautiful because of their age.

This photographs were all made on a Sigma SD Quattro H camera with a Sigma 70mm F/2.8 DG Macro Art 018 lens.