Ephemeral, Limited Edition Book
Self published 2009

This series is an intimate study of an evanescent world on the urban fringe, wild places vanishing as they feel the impact of rapid urbanisation and habitat loss.

The study has taken place over 5 years in the Outeniqua mountain range that skirts the Garden Route.

Ephemeral, is an important account of the wild orchid – a most beautiful and secretive plant that exists fleetingly within the fragile fynbos areas in the Western Cape. Wild orchids are significant in that they represent some of the most mysterious and exquisite flora of these areas.

My photographic exploration of wild orchids and the landscapes that they exist in has been fuelled by my passion for their beauty and mystery. I am not a scientist and this body of work is not a scientific study. I do however, exhibit scientific traits in my passion for the subject and my desire to research and study it in depth.

Orchids represent some of the oldest, most complex and highly evolved flora. Their biological relationships with pollinators are specific and calculated as they have had years to evolve. The form of their flowers is completely and precisely determined by their function. In some cases their morphology is so highly evolved and specialised that little is known about their pollinators or how they propagate. In the wild they exist through a process of natural selection. These processes and life cycles are being encroached on by urbanisation and the sensitive environments of the wild orchids are becoming more and more vulnerable to habitat loss.
Wild orchids are under threat.

Through this body of work I hope to awaken a spirit that sees the world differently.

The series - Ephemeral
The series ephemeral consists of archival printed photographs, in limited editions.
The sizes
A1 - Limited edition of 10
A3 - Limited edition of 20

The book - Ephemeral
The book Ephemeral, is an extended study of the subject. The first edition is printed in a limited edition of 400 hard bound copies. Each copy is compiled by hand by the artist and individually numbered and signed.