Untitled (hibiscus floating in a glass) c. 1892 - 1905

Editor: This is Sarah Choate Sears's gelatin silver print, "Untitled (hibiscus floating in a glass)." The flower seems to be suspended, almost weightless. What stands out to you? Curator: Consider the hibiscus: in many cultures, it symbolizes delicate beauty and fleeting moments. Sears presents us with a loaded symbol, doesn't she? Editor: Loaded how? Curator: Water, often a symbol of purity and reflection, here contains the hibiscus, a flower associated with both love and the ephemeral. Do you notice the mirroring of the flower's shape in the glass itself? Editor: I see it now, yes! It's interesting how the glass both holds and distorts the image. It gives the flower an ethereal quality. Curator: Exactly. It's an image of transient beauty captured in a moment, a memento mori. Editor: I never thought of a flower photograph as a reminder of death! That really changes how I see it. Curator: It is all in the symbols present in art.