How I Made This: Doan Ly’s Iridescent Flower Photography

In the still life tradition, flowers and fruit often represent the broad symbolism of life, death, or perhaps a season — the drama of time passing. Floral designer and photographer Doan Ly treats her still-life photographs similarly, using the arrangement of blooms to speak to an expansive theme.
“When the flower transcends being a flower and becomes this feeling of hope, longing, or sadness, it’s able to become a little larger than life,” Ly said. The artist sees the tro