Blooming out of Quarantine
Meet Joe Horner, UK photographer who’s taken flower photography to a whole new level.
Just like his floral art pieces, chatting with Joe was a breath of fresh air. More than an interview, our zoom call felt like a conversation between two friends. We bonded over how both of our projects (We The Cool Magazine and his flower blocks) came to life during Covid’s lockdown; and how we are now still connecting with people and creatives all around the world through now normalized digital channels like NFT platforms and zoom calendar invites.
“For a lot of creatives, the lockdown was the best thing that happened to them because it took them out of their comfort zone.”
Amor Díaz: How did you get into photography?
Joe Horner: My grandad was a photographer so I’ve always had a passion for photography. My first camera was a spy camera that you attach to your face, I was taking it everywhere with me on holidays, and that’s when I started to really get into photography. I then got a degree in Fine Arts.
I used to do a lot of portraits and product photography, a more traditional approach to photography. But genuinely, I’ve always had different projects in mind and different things I wanted to do.
AD: Tell us about how your flower compositions came to life.
JH: During Covid. For a lot of creatives, the lockdown was the best thing that happened to them because it took them out of their comfort zone. I still do the other “boring” projects. I don’t know if it happens to you, but there’s this thing a lot of us do where we only show our most creative projects on social, but there are actually some other things we have to do to make money. Anyways, when Covid came along, it forced me to do something different from what I was doing, something a bit more interesting because it was all I could do. And I think that this happened to a lot of people even in the mundane, a lot of people got fired from their jobs, but then found a better job that they wouldn’t have been able to find before because they were just too scared to go for it.
AD: How is the process when you create these visuals?
JH: When I first start doing it I just go out and start collecting wildflowers and a lot happens there, I start seeing what goes well together. I use mushrooms and different kinds of liquids. Photographing the blocks is quite quick because the water melts away so quickly, so I also consider how liquids work together with certain flowers. There’s a lot of trial and error. I rarely use studio light because I don’t feel it goes with the work itself, somehow I feel that would be like cheating because I’m using all natural things so it just makes sense to use natural light as well.
AD: Tell me about your collaboration with Super Rare.
Super Rare is an NFT platform, I’ve been doing some work there. They had an exhibition in New York with some of my pieces that were on the platform.
WTC: How’s been the NFT experience for you?
It’s been actually super interesting because I have actually connected with new people through the platform. It’s just amazing that I can connect with all these people from different parts of the world through this weird digital universe of the NFTS. I found companies I never thought I would get involved with, I have some new collaborations in the pipeline from companies and people that otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to connect with.
AD: What’s next for you?
JH: There’s a lot of big jobs that are up in the air pretty much. There’s a thing with the Waldorf in Orlando, they are putting in a proposal to have my artwork in all of the rooms of the hotel. I’m kind of waiting for Spring time as well, so I can go out and start putting flowers together and I have some other nice commissions, just enjoying the moment.
WTC: What music do you have in the background when you create?
JH: I make endless playlists. I literally do at least a new playlist a month, and I name them “A, B, C…” . Today I just made a new one “A6”, so this means I’ve done the alphabet six times already. I’m constantly moving to the next thing.
