Diderot Yap had often seen the dainty red flowers of the Ixora coccinea shrub and the larger yellow flowers of the Allamanda plant in his home town of Douala, Cameroon. Heading home from an early morning errand, he took a moment to appreciate that day’s idyllic weather and these vibrant pockets of colour framing his walk. An idea for a photograph was blossoming.
“I was amazed by how beautiful they were, so I gently cut just a few,” says Yap, a photographer and visual artist. “I was living with my friend Martino at the time; he was in his mid-20s back then – extroverted, sociable and always keen to make everyone feel comfortable.”
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The pair headed out to their balcony, where Yap put down a plain white sheet and asked his friend to lie still on it and close his eyes.
“I remember feeling so excited about my idea,” Yap says. “The Ixora coccinea is commonly known as jungle geranium; I placed these flowers over his mouth intentionally. The mouth allows us to express what truly is, so covering it allowed me to attract attention to the flowers.”
Yap now lives in Amsterdam, and says that this image reminds him of his birthplace. “Every time I look at it, I see the whole process behind it – from choosing the flowers through to making the setup and experimenting with positions. It’s an accomplishment; it makes me feel alive.”
