Dejected Cosmos Flower

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We are used to see photos of perfect live or vivid flowers with their invigorating and strong petals. It is part of the popular culture to look for the supposed perfect image as symbolic reference of a perfect experience. But I have many photographs of dead or dying flowers. They don't look perfect at their best but they look natural and real, because age and death is also part of life.

This depressed red Cosmos flower still has its beauty though. The flower in the lower part of the image transmits the idea that it is powerless, not influential or not the main subject of the ambiance where it finds itself, although it is the main subject of this photo.

The reason the flower is framed in the lower part of this photograph is with the intention to give a more feeling of its surroundings, even if it is blurred. We can't see the elements in the second ground, which is good for the fact they are not a distraction competing for our attention against the main subject, but we still can see and feel some strong shapes and varieties of colors which suggests a wilderness and multitude of flowers and nature in the place.

What the photo says is that the flower, despite its own individuality among rich nature, is just another life among many others. The dejected petals suggest its age and deterioration in nature as part of life. For the individual deterioration means the eventual end of life. For nature, individual deterioration among many, means cycle; The natural life cycle of death and rebirth. This cycle is what the flower in the photo signifies to its natural and vast nature.

Flower Names: Cosmos; Garden Cosmos; Mexican Aster; Annual Cosmos; Common Cosmos; Cosmea.
Family: Compositae.
Genus: Cosmos.
Species: Cosmos bipinnatus Cav.
Color: Red

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