Project:
“Now, Flowers”
Pigment Prints, Hahnemühle Matte - Size 49"x 39"
Edition Limited to Seven
Stillness is only slow motion. In my take on the classic still life, a flower slips its form — one slow shutter glide turns petals into a rushing wave of color.
Meditation on movement: each photograph holds one unrepeatable exhale — impermanence made visible; time seems to lack the aspect of coming and going. Through the lens comes an invitation to witness the intimacy of flowers expanding into bloom.
A bloom is not a thing but a passing. Shutter open on the flower, the present moment: where we start all over again, every fleeting frame a starting point for life itself.
In the overlap of motion and stillness, the photograph reveals that time is always now.
Digital photo(shop) manipulation is not part of my creative process. Creation of the image happens in-camera.
Denis shares his life between New York City and Paris. Away from photographing, he plays saxophone and writes fiction.
Flowers courtesy of Zezé Flowers.
Denis Vlasov (b. 1973) grew up in the Soviet Union and emigrated to the United States in 1991. He earned a degree in Economics from Upsala College in New Jersey, graduating in 1995.
After a career in finance, Denis turned to his passion for photography, working alongside renowned photographers Steven Klein and Bruce Weber. His editorial work has appeared in Interview, Vogue Italia, The New York Times, and AD, and been published by Rizzoli.
The Flowers project began unintentionally, when Zezé of Zezé Flowers in New York gave Denis a single white anemone — giving way to an ongoing artistic collaboration between the legendary flower designer and the photographer.
Ten years on, Denis has developed a deep sensitivity to the poetics of flowers, where he sees each bloom as a cosmic event. Photographing flowers has become part of his mindfulness practice.