Ashlee Whitehead

Fifty-five cyanotypes stand before you, representing each year of my father’s life. As you walk along this path, you are surrounded by bunches of roses, recalling the memory of his passing, when flowers filled the house after his death. Each bunch reflects a stage in his health, with larger prints symbolising significant diagnoses, including sarcoidosis, and ankylosing spondylitis. He also suffered two heart attacks, one at forty and the final at fifty-five, which claimed his life.

As you move through the installation, the roses grow, fade, and eventually wither, symbolising the fragility and unpredictability of life, much like the cyanotype process itself. Just as I cannot predict the final image until it reveals itself, we cannot predict the course of life. In time, my father’s heart could no longer nourish these flowers, and they withered, marking the end of this journey.