Pollen: the hidden sexuality of flowers

Abstract

Pollen was produced during my Fellowship at The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in partnership with botanist Dr. Madeline Harley FLS. Extending the tradition of collaboration between artists and scientists in examining and portraying plants, the book provides new scientific insight into the plant world by fusing Harley’s original scientific text with my photographic images produced using high-powered scanning electron microscopes. The evolution of microphotography during the 19th century effectively eliminated opportunity for any artistic interpretation as the images became locked within the scientific community, until recent digital technologies became a shared language. The powerful images of pollen specially created for the book are the result of extended research into electron micrography used in conjunction with digital imaging software. The complex forms appear to lie somewhere between science and symbolism, becoming mesmeric visual icons which draw the viewer in to a hidden world. Unlike all other works on the subject that are solely aimed at a scientific audience, Pollen uniquely targets a wider audience by revealing the complex forms and structures of pollen and the role it plays within the life cycle of plants. A feature of the collaboration was that the work should be of the highest order and meet with peer approval in both disciplines.

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