1. Who took the photograph, when was it taken and where?

This photograph was taken by Sam Vale for his project and in 2019 published book “A
Typology of British Cherry Blossom”. The whole project includes 323 different colour images
of cherry blossoms, identified as the 323 indigenous cherry trees of the UK. Something
unique to every book is a dried cherry blossom petal which is included in the book, making it
different to every copy.

2. Why did the photographer take the photograph? – What is the story? What does it mean? Is
there a message?
The intention behind taking those photographs was to capture the difference and variety of
the flower of the cherry blossom. Vale studied the Cherry Blossom in advanced and noted
that the cherry trees are most likely represented by drawings of the fruits and leaves, when it
comes to pomology (the study of fruit). So this project is focused on the flower itself even
though it is often considered too uniform. But by photographing and portraying them in this
certain way is precise the differences.
The meaning or message behind that could be that even when things seem like there are
similiar or even the same, there are delicate differences that make every individual unique in
there own way. There is a saying that says: “A flower does not think of competing with the
flower next to it. It just blooms” (Zen Shin) Sam Vales project reminded me of this. It means
that even though these cherry blossoms look so similiar to eachother, they still grow and in
the end are beautiful and special on their own.

3. How does the photograph relate to your project? –

Story.Technique.Composition.Style.Subject.Lightning.Intention
The intention of this project is to show the range of different cherry blossoms, it relates to
my project as it also tells a story and the intention is similiar, using one thing (books & cherry
blossoms) but showing there differences.
The technique is also the same, using a monochrome background, in this case white, and
placing the object in a way that it is the same if you compare them with other images. The
artificial lighting used has the effect that there are no shadows that wouldn’t be helpful for
this project.

4. Explain the composition. – Rule of Thirds. Leading Lines.Lightning.Depth of field.Viewpoint.

The only object in the photograph is the cherry blossom placed in the middle of the image.
The photographer made sure that the margin around is the same everywhere. As this was
intentional it could be that he looked for that while taking the image or editing the image
afterwards to cut it to the right format. A focal or view point is definitely the green part
between the beginning of the flower itself and its haulm. Here you can see it is placed in the
direct middle of the image, on the point where the horizontal and vertical line meet, cutting
the image in four coincident parts.
There are darker areas behind the object that give the image a certain depth and also make
the white colour of the flower stick out more, making the image more interesting.
The petal is arranged so that is closed in the back but opened in the front, leading the viewer
to the middle of the flower which is really effective.

5. Describe the strongest feature of the photograph. -What is effective?

I found a page of the photograph online, how it is displayed in the book. I think the
presentation was really effective as strong contrast between the dark red colour of the left
side of the book and right side with the photograph which was mostly white except for the
flower in the middle. Choosing this contrast was on purpose, to make the presentation more
interesting and in my opinion the strongest feature.
6. Describe the weakest feature of the photograph?
If it wasn’t for the purpose of the project and later bringing it together in a book, maybe the
photographer could have experimented with different coloured backgrounds, which could
have brought out the petal colour more and created a stronger contrast. In the end I really
enjoy the minimalistic view of the photograph and maybe changing the background would
have made the image more aggressive than it should be.

7. How does the photograph inspire you?

This style of photograph inspired me to also explore a white background behind different
objects to see if they are more effective or not. I mostly thought that this background could
be too boring but seeing Sam Vales project showed me that with the right purpose also a
white background can really create an peaceful mood, which helps relaxe the viewer more
and bringing them closer to the project. In my opinion the project also gives off a quite
mature vibe.