Radishes

As I continue to revise and hopefully improve my new website, I’ve been, of course, reviewing my images archives. I’ve come across images that I had not thought of in years including this one which I’d taken after returning home from the Farmer’s Market at Union Square—many years ago.

I always love seeing the stacks and bunches of vegetable at the market, and sometimes when you get them home some of that “amazing site” feeling wanes a bit. So this time I thought how can I capture some of that brightness and fresh feeling one gets at a farmer’s market surrounded by the vivid colors of fruit, vegetables, and flowers.

I began photographing; a large bunch, single radishes, a “couple,” then I placed this trio of radishes on a simple white background in front of the window, all natural light. I misted them with a little water to capture that gorgeous red color, bring out the dark imperfections and show the delicate and rough root ends. If you look closely, I think those are cloud reflections in the highlight of the center radish.

This was taken in 2003, with my first Canon camera. It is a relatively small resolution copy—I have yet to find the original, but I like it, and seeing it again reminded me of a wonderful poem by Martha Baird, from her book of poetry, Nice Deity, that I wanted to share with you, “Purpose for Radishes,” with these opening lines:

What is the silly radish doing
Making its root red
Underneath the ground?

I hope you enjoy seeing this image.