This photograph, like much of my personal work, is the result of taking a step back when the stresses of everyday life overwhelm my senses. Left unchecked, the load on my conscience otherwise forces shutdown and mental retreat to spiraling anxieties that are akin to an itchy scab: unsightly, tender, painful, and will bleed if scratched, but if one can resist urges to itch, the body will heal. The title of this photograph, “Roundabout,” speaks to a unique need to follow a different path from most: a lot is kept close or hidden, and the route doesn’t come full-circle without highs and lows, but love for the outside world is both infinite and robust, seamless and open.

At the time this photograph was made, I was weeks into a drought for personally meaningful, inspiring work. Throughout the course of my career as a documentary storyteller and environmental portraitist, I’ve learned that these periods happen from time to time. And why not? They’re inevitable. When blues started to creep in, I dipped into the budget to buy a few plants that could be potted and photographed on the same day. Pictures of these plants continued each day I returned home from work feeling deflated. I soon found myself photographing personal work well into evenings, almost daily, relying on a flashlight used in conjunction with an old loupe and a mirror borrowed from my daughter. The part about this photograph that puts a smile on my face is not just the image, but also the process of exploration and discovery, and how this exercise prevented burnout ahead of a rather important magazine story for work.

To me, the calla lily is a beautiful embodiment of natural design, with its tall, seamless, gently curving, often colorful and chalice-shaped spathe. The flower also exists as a symbol of balanced duality. On one hand, it represents virtue, renewal, transformation, gratitude, devotion, and innocence. On the other, it serves as an offering of sympathy for those grieving overwhelming loss. It should go without saying that humanity as a whole could learn a lot from a flower in this moment.

What are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!

The two most impactful features of this photograph, in my opinion, are the shaft of light atop the spathe and the natural design of a seamless and gently curving Fibonacci spiral.

If you could make this photo again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or differently?

If I could make this photograph again, and had infinite resources, I would shoot it with my 4×5 (and a bellows extension of course). That way, I could get a little lower, perhaps see more dimension and depth in the Fibonacci spiral, apply a tilt correction, and get far more in focus than the rim of this yellow/golden calla lily. I’d then make a massive print of the resulting photograph on double-weight Ilford Multigrade IV fiberbase paper because I sincerely miss everything about silver prints (except the chemical waste part).

Rob Mattson shared this photograph with the FRAMES Facebook Group.

Photographer

Rob Mattson, Ardmore, OK, US

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Equipment and settings

Canon 5DS, Sigma 70/2.8 DG Macro Art, release cable
1/100, f/16 @ ISO 100