Elise Catterall

Elise is a photographer, writer and naturopath with a Master of Public Health who fell into botanical photography as an artform when she was practicing as a naturopath and capturing flowering herbal medicines. In making her art, Elise focuses on capturing flowers and plants in studio with blank backgrounds, as a form of still life portraiture. This is uncommon in botanical photography, which is often field based. By removing the flower or plant from its natural setting, all distractions are removed so the focus is solely on the subject, emphasising the innate beauty of the flower. Elise brings her awe of botanics to every subject she captures. Long exposure photography allows her to use natural light and a deep depth of field to capture her subjects with richness, detail, depth and shadow.

This way the viewer is equally filled with awe - not only at the uniqueness of these flowers and plants, but at nature as a whole. Elise is a mum of 2 and contributes as a writer and photographer for Planet Ark, a charity close to her heart. She has always had a love of art and photography with a focus on flowers, especially the work of Georgia O’Keefe, Christopher Beane, Irving Penn and the 17th Century Dutch masters, and these artists have guided her aesthetic. She loves and respects nature and is happiest surrounded by flowers and plants.