Inside Claiborne Swanson Frank's Swoon-Worthy New Series: (Flowers)
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Claiborne Swanson Frank, the San Francisco-raised and now Connecticut-based portrait photographer, is releasing her new series, (Flowers), today. The series, which is available on Moda Operandi, Chairish, and Maisonette, explores the beautiful varieties of florals and was produced alongside her young son, Hunter, during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Frank, who honed her eye working under Anna Wintour as an editor for Vogue and has published three books—mostly exploring the topics of women, motherhood, and beauty— has always looked to nature for inspiration, and this series of work succinctly captures the spirit of each botanical featured without making them feel cliché or overwrought.
We sat down with the photographer to answer some questions about this new artistic endeavor.
VERANDA: What drew you to botanicals for this series? How did photographing this topic differ from portraiture photography, and what did you like about it?
Claiborne Swanson Frank: "I grew up spending summers in Napa Valley surrounded by my mother's beautiful garden. Those flowers and that garden are where my love for botanicals began. During quarantine, I looked to nature for relief, beauty, and peace. I began to photograph flowers after homeschool in the late afternoon light as there were no people, [which is] my usual subject matter. These flowers became my people and my subjects. Hunter, my six-year-old son, became my hand muse and flower handler, and we spent our days this way during quarantine. Unlike my usual process of collaborating with people, my still-life process was totally different. It was so quiet and soothing, and I loved everything about it."
VERANDA: We love the focus on one type of floral for this series. What inspired this minimalism, and what challenges did it present?
CSF: "In this body of work, what I felt most compelled to capture and document was the awesome creation of nature in the form of these divine flowers. I was inspired to photograph these botanicals in a pure and ethereal way—to place them in an environment of natural light without any distraction and to capture their essence and beauty.
VERANDA: How did you stay inspired during the pandemic? What new sources of inspiration presented themselves to you during lockdown?
CSF: "My work, my family, nature, and my spirituality kept me inspired and grounded during lockdown. I had new awakenings, revelations, and epiphanies of my life and the world around me."
VERANDA: We love the magical quality to the light of these portraits–tell us a bit about your thought process behind the aesthetic.
CSF: "I give all of my credit to the light of the day. I shot these portraits in the soft light of the late afternoon. This light bathed these flowers in its very own filter."
VERANDA: Tell us about collaborating with your son Hunter and how that helped inform the direction of the series.
CSF: "Hunter was my right hand (no pun intended). He was a master when it came to taking my direction and finding the light."
VERANDA: What’s next, if you can share?
CSF: "I hope to keep creating and sharing my stories with the world."
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