Laurie Tennet
Personal Background
Laurie Tennent was born in Birmingham, Michigan around 1961. She was born in America and has lived in America for her whole life. She earned a BFA from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and a bachelor of fine arts degree in photography. As Tennent's career began, she took photos of weddings, and bar and bat mitzvahs. As her career grew, she became more and more popular. At one point, she was working 7 days a week. 11 years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to slow down. That was when she began her Botanicals project. Being in the garden was soothing for her so she wanted to share that with the rest of the world.
Style
Tennent takes many photos of plants on a black background. It has taken her many years to get the perfect photos she is looking for. She collaborates with farmers to get amazing plants that are in full bloom. She places them on a black background and takes a flat lay photo. She takes macro photos of plants to show the power of the full flower. Tennent likes making her photos dramatic and bold.
Philosophy
Laurie Tennent's work mainly consists of plants. She wanted to show her love for the garden and she wanted to show that one photo can be both masculine and feminine, intimate yet bold, sensual and strong. Through her work, Tennent is able to show what she loves and her ability to create an image that can stir up many emotions. She shows her love for the garden by taking photos of plants on a black background. Doing this makes the plant stand out more so you can see their color and special features that make them unique. Since Tennent's photos are based on botanical plants, the viewer can really see the beauty of nature.
Influence
One of Tennent's few influences to start her Botanicals project was her mother. Tennent's mother was an enthusiastic gardener. Tennent's earliest memories are of her and her mother picking strawberries from her mother's garden. Another influence she had was from an Arizona botanical garden. The botanical garden had glass art in the garden. This inspired Tennent to make weather-resistible images that can be placed in gardens year round. Laurie Tennent influenced me because I always thought that flowers are very soft and calming, but Tennent portrays flowers as dramatic and powerful.
Compare and Contrast
Purple Iris (Tennent)
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Pedals
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This photo was the easiest photo to take because there wasn't a lot of set up before I started taking the image. I took this photo in landscape and did not crop it while Tennent's photo is cropped to show more of the iris. I chose to not crop my photo because it adds more drama and suspense.
This was the hardest photo to take because it took a long time to set the photo up and make sure I can make it look the most like Tennent's photo. I took this photo in landscape instead of portrait because that was how it was easiest to set up my tripod. I tried to take photos without the tripod, but the photos turned out really blurry. In Tennent's photo, there is less space around the succulent and there is more depth in her photo than in my photo.
I took this photo in landscape while Tennent took her photo in portrait. Tennent chose pink and green hydrangeas while I only found white hydrangeas. The feel of both of our photos are different. Tennent shows the color of hydrangeas with their beautiful pedals while showing depth in her photo. My photo feels very black and white. To me, it feels more dramatic than Tennent's photo is.
Artist Statement
These photos were challenging to take, but really fun to experiment with. I had difficulties finding flowers that I could use to replicate Tennent's photos. The iris is the closest I got to being similar to Tennent's work. All of these photos show that even in the darkest time, there is light and beauty. If you just reach out for help, you can find the light and beauty of this world and of you. The black space around the flowers represents the darkness that we all experience, while the flower is the light and beauty of the world, of everyone, of you.
Sources
https://laurietennentbotanicals.com/pages/about
https://peacerivergardens.org/laurie-tennent/
https://www.michigan.org/article/botanicals-laurie-tennent
https://jpettergalleries.com/artist/laurie-tennent#biography
https://thejewishnews.com/2021/07/08/photographer-brings-joy-through-botanical-art/
https://peacerivergardens.org/laurie-tennent/
https://www.michigan.org/article/botanicals-laurie-tennent
https://jpettergalleries.com/artist/laurie-tennent#biography
https://thejewishnews.com/2021/07/08/photographer-brings-joy-through-botanical-art/
Images
Purple Iris
https://galleriasilecchia.com/Tennent/index3.html
Echeveria
https://galleriasilecchia.com/Tennent/index2.html
Hydrangea
https://galleriasilecchia.com/Tennent/index2.html
https://galleriasilecchia.com/Tennent/index3.html
Echeveria
https://galleriasilecchia.com/Tennent/index2.html
Hydrangea
https://galleriasilecchia.com/Tennent/index2.html