NANCY NEWBERRY // Forget Me Not

Fine Art and Editorial photographer Nancy Newberry is interested in the strange rituals of everyday life. Known for her photographs of people, her work often explores the interplay between individuality and social affiliation. Her most well-known series, MUM, an environmental portrait series, is centered around a unique custom, virtually unknown outside of her home state of Texas.

She has received many honors and awards for her work from both publications and institutions. Most recently, she was nominated for the FotoFest Discoveries of the Meeting Place and The Taylor Wessing Portrait Exhibition. Ms. Newberry's photographs can regularly seen in the pages of magazines and are in the permanent collection of The Museum of Fine Art, Houston. Her work has been exhibited in the US, England, Germany, Portugal and China. Alongside a constant pursuit of new work, she may often be found chasing tumbleweeds between Dallas and Marfa, Texas.


Forget Me Not

An abbreviated field guide to misunderstanding and the loss of meaning.

Anemone…………….Sincere
Ambrosia…………….Pious
Azalea………………..Patient; modest
Begonia……………...Beware, a fanciful nature
Cactus……………….love; sex
Carnation……………Fascination; distinction; love
Chrysanthemum……Imperial; truth; love
Daffodil………………Uncertainty
Daisy……………...…Innocence
Honeysuckle………..Devotion
Hollyhock…………...Ambition
Hydrangea………….Frigidness; heartlessness
Iris…………………...Good news
Lilac…………………Innocence
Lily…………………..Purity
Marigold………….…Pain; grief
Narcissus…………..Self esteem
Peony………………Shame; bashfulness
Poppy………………Remembrance
Primrose………...…Eternal love
Rose (red)…………True love
Rosemary………….Remembrance
Rue…………………Regret
Violet (purple)……..Daydreaming
Viscaria…………….Invitation to dance


These images are adopted from Floriography, a Victorian-era form of
communication in which arrangements of different flowers were used to convey
a variety of messages, without needing words.

Each photograph is created in the home of the sitter. Dressed in their own
clothing, the images are made from common domestic materials, found where I
live. In the theatre of everyday, new arrangements are constructed and
decoded without regard to original intention.

Through misunderstanding, loss of meaning and recreation of meaning, new
memes are formed and mark a break from the past.

http://www.nancynewberry.com