Fong Qi Wei, in his own words, on his Exploded Flowers photo series:

"Flowers are indeed one of the most beautiful and complex structures found in nature, specifically designed to achieve the purpose of reproduction."

This is a new series I have embarked on — exploded flowers which are images that show the radial symmetry of flowers, and also individual floral components. This series is inspired partially by Todd McLellan’s Disassembly series.

The act of disassembly (I hesitate to use the term dissection because this series is not meant to be a scientific treatise) lays bare the various shapes and textures of the flowers, and what is interesting to me is how much more expanded some flowers can get when they are disassembled – the relative surface area to size of a rose is so much greater compared to a larger flower like the sunflower.

Also, as a medium that captures a moment in time — which was made clear when I noticed gerbera petals dried after only a single night — the use of photography captures the beauty and intricacies of nature’s flowers in the moment of full bloom, and at the same time, lets you have a different appreciation of their beauty.