The Secret Life of Plants by Carsten Witte

By Leah Latella October 3, 2012

"I always felt that plants have a secret life. First, you don't recognize them, they seem to be invisible. Once they start to grow you might ask yourself who they are and what they might look like. With the start of blooming you're mesmerized by their beauty, and when you return the very next day to get a second look, they are gone."

- Carsten Witte

"Mohn" ("Poppy" in German)

German photographer Carsten Witte began shooting florals more than 20 years ago. With his ongoing project titled, "The Secret Life of Plants," which he began in 2008, Witte uses a simple photographic process and applies a bronce/gray background in a self mixed chemical process that sets it apart from other photography of plants.

"I started with some exotic flowers, but I really love dahlias, they are so mighty in their forms and colours," says Witte. "And today I am working on the fading ones."

Carsten Witte's main concern with photography is to show beauty but also with the hint of how fast it fades.