Nymphaea Book by Andrea Wolff

NYMPHAEA: “A celebration of Waterlilies”

Fine-art photographer Andrea Wolff presents “NYMPHAEA: A Visual Celebration of Waterlilies,” a book years in the making, an exploration of a flower that has been largely overlooked until now. This alluring book gives the reader the opportunity to disconnect from the information overload of our internet world and reconnect with the beauty and serenity of the natural world.

As a symbol of purity and enlightenment, transformation and rebirth, knowledge and spirituality, waterlilies and lotuses have played an important role in cultural iconography since antiquity. In the 20th century, artists incorporated waterlilies into their most famous creations, including Louis Comfort Tiffany, whose waterlily lamp was one of his most successful pieces. In the United States and Europe, everyone has an acquaintance, if not a full-on friendship, with Monet’s series of waterlily paintings.

Waterlilies have never before been photographed in such an intimate manner, so up-close and personal. Andrea has photographed them in their natural environment, allowing for the interplay of sunlight on water, pad and lily, and captures them not just in the prime of their lives, as most flowers are photographed, but as they first emerge as buds and as they last decline to seed.

“When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else.” — Georgia O’Keefe