Magnolia

This was the biggest technical details I encountered in photographing magnolias, and that is, they've just been seen too much, painted too much, especially by little ole ladies in art clubs, and Southerner's tend to groan, "Oh, no! Another magnolia!" And there are other Southerners who fill their house with anything "Magnolia"...doilies, doorknobs, and certainly, that everyready magnolia wreath on the door for all seasons.

A friend of mine said, "Don't do it!", when I said I was going out to photograph magnolias in Natchitoches. I knew he cared, but I was determined to discover what I felt was missing in the mystery of this southern flower. Southernern's don't like to get to the down and gritty of things, up-close and personal....at least not openly! The magnolia is filled with mystery, sex.....yes, sex, in that good ole fashioned reproduction way, and it's lovliness can be evasive if you don't go there!

I found that the Sony Mavica would focus 1:1....I guess that's what it's called...nose to nose...lens right on top of flower parts.....the Magnolia is a big flower, and the closer I got, the bigger the flower seemed.......and for me, I finally got what I wanted from the Magnolia.....I got it to speak for me.....

So, the problem, and my solution may seem mundane on the one hand, .....since flower close-ups are no big news,.......but the magnolia is a very impersonal flower....and fleeting...you can't cut it and bring it home...it spite of it's looks and seeming durablity...the leaves are so strong....it will wilt immediately...all Magnolia paintings you might have seen are fakes.....I tried painting a couple of Magnolia flowers once and I had to blow the air-conditioner unit directly on it...and me!..and nearly froze to death...

So these photos are a passing for me...whatever they amount to in the world.....and my friend, who warned me against them agreed......