“Vita Hominum Flos Est”

(Life is like a flower)

 

 

 

 

 

Taking inspiration from Vanitas paintings, Dutch still life oil paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries, the work on display captures flowers in various stages of blossom and decay to symbolically explore the concept of birth, life and death.

 

Capturing moments of fragile beauty, each image works well individually on its own yet conveys the connecting journey between life, mankind and flowers.

 

Although the work considers aspects of mortality, it is ultimately intended to be contemplative, allowing for a reflection upon human experience and existence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Samantha Ruth is showing work that explores the ambiguities of photography and painting through questions of gender and historical use of the flower motif in western painting.  Her photographs employ the use of sumptuous and seductive colours and the use of macro photography, allowing a strange but disquieting world to unfold”.

 

MA Fine Art and MA Film & Photography Final Show

University of Derby

Copyright Samantha Ruth 2023