Habenaria Andrewsii- Andrew's Rose Purple Orchid 1931

This is a photograph of Habenaria Andrewsii - Andrew's Rose Purple Orchid made by Edwin Hale Lincoln. Looking at this image, I’m immediately struck by the delicate, almost lace-like quality of the orchid. It feels so precise. What does it mean to reproduce an image of nature using photography? I wonder what Lincoln was thinking as he worked. Did he feel like he was simply recording something that already existed, or did he feel like he was creating something new? Was it a scientific endeavor or an artistic one? What does it mean to truly capture something? He must have needed incredible patience to create such an image, with such clarity, such exquisite focus and depth of field. Each petal is so clear, each stamen reaching out. Maybe Lincoln was in conversation with other artists, or maybe he just wanted to push the boundaries of his medium, which is what we all want. Photography, like painting, can be a form of expression, and it’s often through these experiments and exchanges that we see the true potential of the medium.