Decay before Bloom

The petals of poppies are so delicate and translucent, more so than tissue paper.

I picked this poppy bud yesterday but I fear that in doing so, I have robbed it of the chance to bloom. Symptoms of decay have discoloured the edges of the petals. By 5 pm, its vitality had disappeared. I love the detail in the unfolding and the fibres on the sepals.

Meeting of the East Midlands RPS documentary and contemporary sub groups at Keyworth this afternoon. I showed my recently acquired copy of the Michael Kenna book on Ratcliffe on Soar power station. How could one possibly think there is art to be had in those chimneys, but Kenna has distilled it.

Then I did a show and tell of my photos of the dance photography workshop I attended in April.