The images in this book are of authentic fake flowers. They were photographed on location in Dollar Stores and similar venues around Columbus, Ohio in May of 2007. They are authentic in that there is no claim be be anything other than artificial. Clearly stand-ins for the real thing, the naturally grown flower, there is an element of Trompe’Loie in their construction. Some present an obvious artificial stamp of creation while others more closely resemble the natural. That they can be both tacky and charming at the same time is an interesting contradiction worth exploring photographically.

Like the flowers in this book, photographs can be simultaneously authentic and fake. Photographic truth, the notion that photographs don’t lie, is particularly naive in the digital era. Yet there is a direct connection of a photograph to the real. More than any other art, the photograph depends upon having a “thing” in front of the lens. The idea of this book is to notice and explore the contradictions. Not necessarily to resolve the difference, but to make interesting photographs.