Habenaria Hookeri- Hooker's Orchid 1931

Edwin Hale Lincoln made this photogravure of Habenaria Hooker- Hooker's Orchid sometime during his career. There’s a stillness and subtlety that comes from the gray scale, a quietness that invites you to look closely. I think about what it means to frame something, to decide what to include and what to leave out. Lincoln crops in tight, choosing a close-up that throws the focus onto two orchids. The background is almost featureless, and that makes you look closer at the spiky little flowers. The textures are great. The leaves have these beautiful striations. Then there are the little wiry roots at the bottom and the sharp, angular flowers at the top, like a drawing. It feels scientific, objective, and intensely personal all at once. Like Georgia O’Keeffe, maybe? A flower is never just a flower.