The Midnight Garden

The flowers in this series, printed in the historic platinum process, open at night or early evening. Some of the blooms will die by early morning; some will stay open for a few hours the next day. 

The wide grayscale that is possible with the platinum process allows delicate detail in the highlights of the flowers and velvety rich darks in the shadows of the leaves.

Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia)

Angel Trumpet (Datura)

Argentine Giant Cactus

Casablanca Lily

Easter Cactus

Evening Primrose

Jasmine

Queen of the Night I

Totem Pole Cactus

Trudy Slocum Water Lily

Wild Petunia

4 o’clock

Moonflower

Hedgehog Cactus

August Lily Hosta

Queen Victoria Lily

Wet Lily

Saguaro Cactus

Moody and lush, DeCosse’s prints are masterpieces of light and shadow in which a flower’s pristine petals float in translucent beauty above dark, velvety leaves and stems.

— Mary Abbe, Minneapolis Star Tribune

There is a luminosity in the lights and velvet depths to the darks that can take your breath. It is simply not present in the work of any other photographic artist.

I have never seen platinum prints I have been so tempted to touch; I want to actually feel those dark, textured leaves, to really enter DeCosse’s garden.

— John Wood