G I L D E D L I L I E S
FINALIST SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2024
TOP 10 WINNER LENSCULTURE CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS 2023
Portraits of cut flowers
Born and bred in industrial scale greenhouses, cut flowers have no contact with nature and generate high CO2 emissions - not unlike humans in the Western world.
Flowers are powerful symbols. People around the world use them to mark rites of passage and significant life events. In the Victorian era, flowers were considered the best medium to express feelings. Each type of flower was associated with specific, symbolic meaning.
Previously the western world’s supply of cut flowers derived from local run green houses. Today most of the flowers we buy in our stores have been transported by plane or lorries from industrial scale digitally run greenhouses around the world. Colombia, Ecuador and equatorial East Africa are the largest producers of cut flowers in the world. The greenhouses contribute to high water use and chemical runoff. On top of pollutants and water use, flowers can generate serious carbon emissions because of refrigeration and long-haul transport. Stems may be transported up to 6000 miles in refrigerated airplane holds. When grown in cooler climates, flowers need heated greenhouses and generate high CO2 emissions because of its high electricity usage.
The portrayed cut flowers were shot against a background of prints of images from vulnerable areas of the world. When giving these magnificent flowers and plants close attention, they become a mysterious, dreamlike universe in themselves and a reminder of the incredible beauty of nature that we are at serious risk of losing.
By creating beauty out of the global impact of industrial pollution, Gilded Lilies creates contradictions between the delicacy of the dying flowers posed in front of a painted background and the harsh reality of their true hothouse existence. Deborah Klochko, Museum of Photographic Arts
Tine Poppe’s series Gilded Lilies: Portraits of Cut Flowers considers the damaging environmental impact of cut flowers through carefully crafted images of bouquets against backdrops of landscapes devastated by climate change. Placing real plants against the backdrops imbues the photographs with an ethereal quality, evoking an uncanny sensation that transports viewers to another realm. Anna Siemaszko, WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY ORGANISATION
Finalist Sony World Photography Awards 2024
Interview by Sophie Wright/LensCulture
Observer/Guardian 19 November 2023
Solo exhibition Kunstverket Galleri, Oslo 28 September – 21 October 2023
Group exhibition 212 Photography Istanbul 2023
For fine art prints please contact Petter Morken // petter@kunstverket.no