'I want to be like a Sunflower; so that even on the darkest days I will stand tall and find the sunlight'
My mother didn't like flowers. I wouldn't go so far as to say she hated them, but she showed little to no interest in having in the house, or on the property. For her, an evergreen bush was much more practical for the front lawn, little work and easy to take care of. As far as inside, if anyone dared buy her flowers for mother's day or her birthday she usually made a comment about how wasteful it was to spend money on something that in a few days, she'd be throwing in the garbage.
Sunflower in the Field
The one exception was sunflowers. Our house had flowers, one table in the living room, but they were plastic. A green arrangement in the summer, replaced briefly but a fake poinsettia at Christmas. The only time an actual real flower graced that table was sunflower season, for us, late August and September. For a brief window each year, a half a dozen sunflowers brightened up that room in our house.
Since my mother's death, sunflowers have taken on new meaning for me. Gardens and fields I used to quickly pass by, are now places I slow down, stop and enjoy. I too am not really a flower person, but bought several batches of sunflowers this year to have in my living room. I've also been researching how to grow them next spring.
I was on the hunt images which included sunflowers with the male form when this set of images of Josh Mosier shot byKent arrived in my inbox. After posting my piece of Kent's work with Josh last month, (Calm, Cool & Collected) I had been in contact with Kent about working with Josh on some Halloween themed images. I never mentioned sunflowers, so having them included was both a surprise and welcomed gift. Kent also sent on a life drawing he completed of Josh which included a sunflower.
'My love of sunflowers started several years ago when my Mom, sister and I went to visit the farm I grew up on. The state of Missouri Conservation Department had bought the farm and made it a nature reserve and planted sunflowers on several acres. The "sunflower in field" (image above) is one of the pictures I took that day.
I really enjoy photographing Josh — I find his lean body and ample manhood to be beautiful eye candy. One of the pictures is remotely inspired by the painting American Gothic. The image with flower in his mouth reminded me of a flamenco dancer with a rose. The shot with the sunflower coming out of his crotch reflects my quirky/sexual sense of humor and the sunflower's resemblance to a phallus. Josh has this somewhat shy, but comfort in being nude persona, which I tried to capture in these pictures'
No comments:
Post a Comment