Floral photographer gives her subjects the star treatment
Photo by Rachel Pressley
“I mean, how in the world does a flower ever happen?”
That’s LeeAnn Donnelly, contemplating how “the dramatic, multilayered dahlia” manages to emerge from “the most gnarly-looking bulb.”
While that showiest of early-fall flowers may blow her mind, she doesn’t really play favorites. “I think every flower I’ve ever photographed has an innate drama — maybe even its own backstory — and I strive to tease that out when I photograph them,” says Donnelly.
Asheville born and raised, the artist traces her interest in photography to the magazines of her childhood. Her parents were news junkies, and it rubbed off. “I loved Newsweek, LIFE, and that series of books produced by Time Life,” she says. Those books used photojournalism to capture whole eras; Donnelly recalls the ones that chronicled the 1950s and ’60s just in images — no copy needed: “The photos told you all you needed to know.”
She reflects on the ability of a photograph to capture an otherwise fleeting moment in time — thus revealing more than a video ever could. “Still photography allows for isolating a single action or belief. That’s what intrigues me.”
Donnelly — who holds degrees in Mass Communications and Hospitality Management — has served as Senior Public Relations Manager for Biltmore Estate for the past 14 years. She plans and manages media visits to the attraction and pitches story ideas to journalists from around the world. And, of course, the property’s famous formal gardens offer continual inspiration.
But while she sometimes photographs flowers where they’re growing, Donnelly does more work in her home studio. “I love to isolate a single flower and give it the star treatment — hair, makeup, wardrobe, a fan to blow them around,” she quips.
She also scouts the area’s floral markets for her subjects, looking for flowers with varying tones and textures. A color-saturated flower may be a tempting pick, but conveying its subtleties with a camera is also more challenging, she notes. (Nevertheless, she finds the process “intimate and meditative.”)
How many flowers does she think she’s photographed over the years? Donnelly guesses many thousands: “I admit it, it’s an addiction.”
She also shoots portraits, street scenes, fashion, products, her cats Finn and Johnny Ringo, and random “weird stuff” that intrigues her. “I’m the kind of photographer who will snap frame after frame of an orange just to get [it] right,” she says.
Her extensive portfolio notwithstanding, the artist still has a wish list of potential dream subjects. And on it is “actor Jon Hamm … holding a gorgeous bunch of dahlias.”
LeeAnn Donnelly, Asheville, leeannphotography.com. The artist’s photographs will be on display Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9, 10am-5pm, at the Kenilworth Artists Association Studio Tour (and also for the Association’s holiday event on Saturday, Dec. 3). For more information and a map of studio stops, see kenilworthartists.org. Donnelly’s work is represented by ArtPlay (372 Depot St. in the River Arts District, artplay-studio.com). She shows her work by appointment at her home studio: e-mail leeann@leeannphotography.com.