You may never look at flowers the same way again.
At least, that’s what Swedish photographer Edvard Koinberg hopes as his solo photography exhibition, Herbarium Amoris, opens at the Canadian Museum of Nature Friday.
Inspired by the poetic writings on plant sexuality and reproduction by 18th-century scientist and fellow Swede Carl Linnaeus — a man known as the father of taxonomy — Koinberg “tried to find a way to make pictures out of it.”
The subjects were common garden plants like poppies, roses, lilies and bergamot. Almost all of the plants photographed are from his own garden back in Uppland, Sweden, yet the project has opened his eyes, he said.
“I’ve never seen plants like this before,” said Koinberg, 45. “My father is a landscape architect, so I see gardens more (as a whole),” he said. “I never looked so close before.”
The 36-photo exhibition, which has been shown at 50 venues in 23 countries, has taken Koinberg all over the world.
The beauty of the flowers is universally appealing, he said. “They’re so delicate and fragile.
They’re fascinating.”
Herbarium Amoris runs through Jan. 3.
