WHERE WILD ORCHIDS GROW

About The Photographer

Johan Siggesson was born in a small village called Älvängen, Sweden in 1977. He spent his childhood fishing, admiring wildlife, playing in the forests and in general, developing a bond with nature. Since then, his deep love for animals has only grown with time. He still fondly remembers his childhood days when he would leaf through his grandmother's natural history book collection or watch the weekly nature program on Swedish state television.

Life then led him to our shores where he first pursued a career in graphic design within his design studio. After renting a lens and a beginner’s camera during his first-ever safari, he realised that he wanted to take up wildlife photography as his full-time profession. “My interest in the natural world has always been there and later in life I was interested and passionate about graphic design. The combination of the two led me to become a self-taught wildlife photographer,” Johan explains.

Background Behind Where Wild Orchids Grow

Johan has called Malta his home for over 20 years now. Needless to say, there is a stark contrast between Sweden and our island.

During the first half of his life, he experienced vast forests, lakes and mountains—in general, things that are not uncommon in Sweden. Johan explains that “At first glance, Malta is not a mecca for wildlife photographers. Yes, we don’t have the large iconic animals such as deer, wolves or bears but when looking a little deeper though, you’ll be amazed at what you can find.”

Johan explains that he spent long hours thinking about the subjects he could work with until he came finally across the naked man orchid. He was completely taken by surprise by this discovery since he had no idea that wild orchids grew in Malta. “It looked like something very exotic from the Amazon or Madagascar or something of the sort. I soon realised that this spectacular flower actually grows wild here in Malta. That sparked my interest and I started researching the local orchids more and more. I learned that we have 36 species in Malta. During the course of this project, a 37th species was rediscovered after over 100 years of no observations in Malta.”

Although many hours of research were carried out, Johan never expected that his project on local orchids was going to end up as a book, let alone as the first book in a collection. “I got a bit obsessed with the subject and soon had 1000s of images of the first species that flowers in October. At one point my wife suggested that maybe I should make a book with all thes e images. Now, it is said and done.”

Ultimately, Johan wanted to create something “where lines, patterns, composition, shapes and forms take centre stage. A mix between science and art.” Adding to this, Johan tells me that through his photography, he wanted to create something that people would find beautiful. “Nature in Malta is very often presented negatively in the media,” Johan says. I also wanted to prove to myself and others that great nature photography can be created in Malta.”

Our Wild Orchids

Johan explains that orchid season starts just a few weeks after the first rainfalls in September. There’s a short break in between, but then the season truly kicks off in December/January. Up until April and May, more species bloom one after the other. The summer months a re simply too hot and dry for orchids so during that time of year, there’s another break until they start flowering again come September/October.

When I ask Johan whether some flowers stand out to him more than others he tells me; “As a photographer, I am not happy just spotting an orchid, I need to find one which is great for photography. It needs to be in the right place for the perfect light and angle of photography. It also needs to be an individual that preferably looks great with no wilted flowers or broken pieces etc.”

Out of the common species, Johan tells me that the milky orchid is his favourite. “It’s probably not the most striking one but when looking closely, it is very intricate and very beautiful. I worked extensively with these flowers. Sometimes many days with the same individual flower to shoot in various lights, angles etc.” As for the rarer types of species, Johan thinks that the mirror orchid —which is mostly found in Gozo—is simply spectacular. With its fantastic colours and shapes, it most certainly stands out from the crowd.

Book Website: www.marvellousmalta.com

Personal Website: www.johansiggesson.com