Dahlia in Decay, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

Like people, flowers are beautiful even when imperfect. Perhaps particularly when they are imperfect. If you search for a perfect version of a flower or a person, then you substitute shallowness and ephemeral beauty for true depth.

Here’s the story of how I came to first photograph this White Dahlia, and a second version, Ghost Flower. The flower you see here is several days older than the earlier versions. Resurrection is an earlier take on the same theme, involving poppies rather than a Dahlia.