“The infinite wealth of floristic masterpieces is evidence for the aesthetic creativity nature is capable of. Flowers are the reflections of the soul and are considered the measure of beauty. Every year numerous plant species become extinct without man ever having discovered them,”
says photographer Richard Fischer.
More than half of all flower species are threatened with extinction worldwide. Countless disappear from the earth without even being recognized or documented. Flowers are of inestimable worth for the earth and its wildlife. Without Richard Fischer’s work numerous priceless floral beauties would be lost forever. For many years now, the photographer has been staging delicate, threatened beauties in his photo studio, each flower for itself in its perishable uniqueness. He documents their aesthetics in a way close to imminent death but allows their majesty and power of expression to remain. Some such as the ‘Stanhopea embreei’ are more eccentric and others such as the ‘Gomphocarupus fruticosus’ are rather unflashy. Still, he captures the personality of each flower portrait-like, nearly iconic.
His exclusive collection A TRIBUTE TO FLOWERS combines art with environmental activism and draws attention to the very important topic ‘species extinction and conservation’. It shows photographs of short-living and endangered beauties of nature which Richard Fischer has collected for more than 15 years. He has worked with the world’s leading botanical gardens and botanists to reflect the flowers in their original aesthetics. Each of the photographs mirrors the unique combination of color, form and texture in every flower. The most important factor is that Richard Fischer does not only capture beauty and elegance but also the fragility and transience of the flowers in order to send his message and raise awareness. For this reason, he is often regarded as the ‘flower ambassador’.
A TRIBUTE TO FLOWERS is a coffee-table picture-book which shows the best images of his 20 year long journey. It summarizes the three cycles of a flower’s life ‘Gentle Genesis´, ‘Floral Finesse’ and ‘Dying Divas’. The photographs are accompanied by touching texts and descriptions by Pascal Morché, enhancing the effects of floral masterpieces and drawing attention to the floral diversity around us.
Next to the book, Richard Fischer displays his photographs in Europe’s largest floral-photographic exhibition. The last exhibition being at the Flower Art Museum in Amsterdam-Aalsmeer. The exhibition displayed 58 large-format FineArt prints on selected Hahnemühle FineArt papers. Most of them were even printed on the brand-new Hahnemühle Natural Line papers, made out of sustainable resources (for more information see p.4). The whole exhibition was printed by Hahnemühle’s Certified Studio ‘Jan R Smit - Fine Art Printing Specialist’.