Sidewalk Sunflowers

6 May

A few doors up from where I live is a beautifully wild sidewalk garden. Throughout the year it's full of surprises, constantly changing with the seasons and whatever decides to grow there.

As I walk past it almost every day, one morning I noticed a cluster of sunflowers beginning to open. Drawn to them, I started photographing them. What began as a simple curiosity turned into a daily ritual, returning again and again to document their growth, movement, and eventual fading.

When I developed the film, I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with the images. Then an opportunity came up to create a zine for a VENDOZA vending machine, and the project suddenly found its purpose. The photographs became Sunflower Monthly Planner, a small publication inspired by these untamed blooms growing unexpectedly beside the footpath.

The process of making the zine, I experimented with printing black-and-white images on coloured cardstock, giving the publication a punk, DIY quality that also feels nostalgic. The sunflowers themselves weren't neat or carefully cultivated; they were wild, resilient, and growing wherever they pleased. I wanted the zine to reflect that same energy.