Japanese photographer Mika Ninagawa: "I want to preserve the beauty I felt at that moment"

Flowers have always been an obsession for Japanese photographer Mika Ninagawa. "Nothing lasts forever, so I want to preserve that beauty as it appears at a precise moment in time," she says. "By photographing flowers, I seek to capture and immortalise their fleeting beauty."

She has a lot in common with French jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels. In the Maison's century-long history, flowers have been a constant motif, appearing on glided imperial crowns and on subtle pendants alike. It's why Ninagawa's latest collaboration with the famed jeweller is nothing short of a cosmic match.

Florae is Van Cleef & Arpels' latest jewellery exhibition celebrating the beauty of flowers. On display from now till November 14 at Hôtel d'Évreux – on Paris' hallowed Place Vendôme – Florae showcases over a hundred pieces from Van Cleef & Arpels' patrimony collection and its contemporary jewellery lines.

Juxtaposed against these immortal creations are surreal works from Ninagawa; otherworldly flowers unfurl their corollas on towering glass walls while Van Cleef & Arpels' creations rest within nearly invisible showcases.

"Like me, Van Cleef & Arpels is fascinated by nature's transformations," says Ninagawa. "In the exhibition, these pieces and my photographs echo each other – together, they spark a new fascination for flora."

How did you get in touch with Van Cleef & Arpels for the Florae exhibition, and what was your concept behind your work?

It all started when I had the opportunity to do a collaborative exhibition with Van Cleef & Arpels in Tokyo in 2017. When I visited the SIHH in Switzerland that year, I also visited the Van Cleef & Arpels booth, and it was overwhelmingly wonderful. I remember how excited I was because I felt that the view they had and the things they valued were close to my own creations. Since then, I've been hoping to work out something with them, so I was really happy when I received this request from the team in Paris in 2018.

For this collaboration, we incorporated fresh flowers and jewellery photographed together, as well as an exhibition method that combines photos of flowers and jewellery. When I thought about the brilliance of Van Cleef & Arpels' jewellery, which considers nature to be important, the choice of fresh flowers was a natural one for me. Van Cleef & Arpels has given eternity to the shifting life sparkle of fresh flowers.

What is it about flowers that attracts you – and how are you able to find so many different perspectives on such a static subject?

Photographing flowers is an act of momentarily freezing, and universally transforming, the beauty of a shifting moment. All things change and are eventually lost, which is why I want to preserve the beauty I felt at that moment – just as it is.

Because we know that things disappear in an instant, we want to preserve the momentary radiance of the flower, including the thoughts of the person who carefully nurtured it, at least in a photograph. I thought this was a feeling very similar to when people wear jewellery or when they give jewellery to someone, when they think about the brilliance that colours the person's life.