BEHIND THE SCENES: THE MAKING OF OUR SS21 FLORAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Throughout the year, the floral aficionados at McQueens Flowers dream up floral collections for the seasons, designed to celebrate the finest stems of the hour – and the national events and festivities celebrated throughout the UK. Those of you who are familiar with our Instagram account will remember our twinkling Christmas scenes and sensuous, Valentine's floral feast. More recently, we stepped into spring with a light and bright collection showcasing our fresh collection for International Women’s Day and Mother's Day. May saw the arrival of the first of summer’s floral bounty, and with it, the precious peony – a stem so cherished that we created four designs in celebration of our favourite varieties.
The Spring/Summer collection – designed by McQueens Flowers Head of Retail, Gina Hardy – was shot in London over the course of four days, inspired by the world unfurling after a long and a rather grey start to the year. As the UK comes to the end of a third (and hopefully final) lockdown, this summery collection is truly a celebration of a beautiful blooming summer ahead.
Content Manager, Selina Kerley, who produced the shoot describes how the story was visually woven throughout the photography:
“The brief was full of emotive visual inspiration, a collection centred around the beauty of late spring and summer flowers, texture, and scent. It's also a celebration of the world opening up, and the pure thrill of being outdoors and seeing people again. We deconstructed that concept and focused on that moment of anticipation – you’re outside, the sun’s out, it’s warm and the birds are singing – you’re waiting for a friend, family, or partner… you can’t wait to see them and you’re greeting them with the most beautiful bunch of flowers. Just pure happiness.”
Content Manager, Selina Kerley, who produced the shoot describes how the story was visually woven throughout the photography:
“The brief was full of emotive visual inspiration, a collection centred around the beauty of late spring and summer flowers, texture, and scent. It's also a celebration of the world opening up, and the pure thrill of being outdoors and seeing people again. We deconstructed that concept and focused on that moment of anticipation – you’re outside, the sun’s out, it’s warm and the birds are singing – you’re waiting for a friend, family, or partner… you can’t wait to see them and you’re greeting them with the most beautiful bunch of flowers. Just pure happiness.”
“Alongside the bouquets, we shot the ingredients – picking out individual materials from each design and photographing them against the blue, spring sky. The models were standing on the roof holding giant swathes of peonies, roses, delphinium... We were directly opposite the central line overground track, it must have made quite a sight for commuters that morning!"
"Alex and Jade, our models, were incredible – it may look like a summer’s day in the pictures, but it was in fact a cool 10° outside, and pretty chilly when the clouds drew over, there was a lot of running in and out of the shot with jumpers and blankets!”
"Alex and Jade, our models, were incredible – it may look like a summer’s day in the pictures, but it was in fact a cool 10° outside, and pretty chilly when the clouds drew over, there was a lot of running in and out of the shot with jumpers and blankets!”
"The collection is packed full of the most amazing spring-summer stems – giant roses, fluffy hydrangea, tall delphinium - and those peonies! They were to die for. Once we had shot the bouquets, McQueens Senior Creative, Mariko Kinoshita deconstructed the ingredients to create a series of still-life designs inspired by the collection. Focusing on the key materials in each bouquet, these were shot very simply, on a white plinth in front of a white, brick wall."
"Last but not least, we took it one step further shot the individual florals in microscopic detail, too. These images really capture the beauty of the flower in all its glory. One of my favourites is the Delphinium, you can see every tiny detail from the pollen on the stamen to the tiny down-like, hairs on the petals. Seeing them in this way really changes the way you look at a flower, there’s so much going on, it makes you love them just that little bit more.”
Discover the new collection included our brand new Peony bouquets on the McQueens flowers Online Shop.
