Dandelion project helps photographer after death of mother

An amateur photographer says taking pictures of dandelions throughout the spring has helped him cope with the grief of losing his mother.

Garry Platt, who lives in the High Peak in Derbyshire, has photographed almost 200 dandelions over the past few months.

The 67-year-old, who had been a carer for his mother, Norma, after she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, started the project after she died in January, aged 89.

Mr Platt said doing it had "helped me begin to move forward".

"During the three years I was her carer, I couldn't go out and use my camera," he said.

"Every time I tried, I would look through the lens and could only see my mum at home unable to do anything for herself, so there was no joy in it.

"I loved my mum and I still miss her every day, but she would have been one of the first people to want me to get out and start living now that I was able - photography was the way I've found to do that."

Mr Platt started photographing dandelions after spotting a field in Wardlow filled with the yellow flowers.

This, he said, inspired him to capture the individuality of different dandelions, and what started as a couple of images, ended with a collection of 196.

Mr Platt added: "I started to reflect on these myriad little flowers, and thought it would be interesting just to take a look at what individually they are like.

"I took one or two pictures and began to realise that they're all the same, but they're also massively different.

"You're having to look at them in fine detail and rather than being boring, it was fascinating just to examine each of these individual blooms and recognise their individuality."

He then posted the collection on Facebook, adding: "It's been a wonderful year for this species of plant and a fascinating project capturing the extraordinary range of their variety, shapes and forms.

"Collected here they remind me of individual snowflakes, each one unique and special but also sharing so much with their brethren."

Mr Platt said the positive response he received had surprised him.

"It's really helped me begin to move forward, lift my head up and look out at the world around me," he added.

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