The Beauty of What Remains
Reflecting on love’s enduring presence through loss and transformation.
Introduction & Photographs by Patricia Mazza Vlamis, Contributing Writer & Artist
Even as flowers fade, their textures remain as a reminder that beauty doesn’t disappear, it transforms; it tells the story of what was once vibrant.
As I continue on my grief exploration journey, I find myself captivated by flowers and plants after they have bloomed. I’m drawn to the way they hold their beauty, the variety of textures and the changing colors as they fade, dry and wilt. The flowers are beautiful not in spite of their withering, but because of it.
These moments of wilting and drying are not about decay alone; they are about transformation. As flowers wither, their petals take on new textures, fragile yet enduring, layered with memory and experience.
For me, this process mirrors the experience of loss. There is a correlation between the drying flowers and how we feel when someone we love dies. We are changed forever, but still rich in the love and beauty that remains. I have always been attracted to the texture and beauty of drying flowers more so than when they are in full bloom. For many years, I would photograph them because by having the images, I was able to hold onto them indirectly. After I read “The Beauty of What Remains: How Our Greatest Fear Becomes Our Greatest Gift” by Rabbi Steve Ledar I began to see how these images relate to grief.
After someone we love is gone, grief reshapes itself and softens in time. It will still hurt because love never ends but it will hurt less often as we navigate through grief.
Grief, too, carries your loved one’s story forward. These photographs are a reminder that love does not vanish with death, it changes form, and in that transformation, there is still tenderness, still love and still beauty that remains.
Included here is a selection of my recent images that explore these themes. You can find the complete collection here.
Belle Curve Stories is brought to you by Belle Curve Ventures LLC.
Patricia Mazza Vlamis, 61, is a photographer, art teacher, volunteer, mother, and wife. She’s also a content creator and self-publisher. My Memory Journal: A coloring book for children who have experienced loss and grief, is available on Amazon. Pat’s photography portfolio can be found here and here.
