This is a digital photo-collage made with a picture that I took using a macro-lens. My photographic subject was a unique configuration of petals and stamens from a diminutive lily bud that was just in the process of opening. The blossoming bud, which was unusually small, grew in such a way that, as it opened, it matured with some of its stamens tucked into a “cup” formed by its petals. The petals curl and twist, almost as if they were made out of delicate ribbon. Nevertheless, they were firm enough to contain the tensile thrust of the curving filaments emerging from within the blossom’s centre.
This eccentric configuration was simply one stage in the course of the flower’s blooming. But I was able to photograph its unusual form before it completely undid itself into full florescence.
The original photo can be seen in each quarter section of the composition. The photograph focused only on the section of the flower that was starting to split open. I reproduced the photo four times over, and pieced the copies into a symmetrical layout. I then digitally inverted the colour of the arrangement.
To my eye, the resultant image strongly resembles the shape of a “vajra,” which is the term for a stylized lightning-bolt in Indo-Himalayan iconography. The name seemed appropriate not only for the shape of the image, but also for the bright striations that radiate from its centre, and the glowing luminosity of its inverted colour.

Highly Commended - Macro Art