Images of a blooming Hibiscus plant are used to allude to the cycle of human life, from the unfurling of the first bud to the rotting of a decaying, shriveled blossom. The flesh colored tones of these flowers together with their often surprisingly sensuous, sometimes sexual formations, lend themselves to the memory of human life, its beauty and joy, and to the memory of flesh, wound, and death.

Samar Hussein commemorates the estimated 100’000 civilian deaths caused by the American led war on Iraq since the invasion in March, 2003. Using information obtained from the Iraq Body Count project, names of the dead were applied to the sequence of printed photographs one name per image in chronological order of their death. The first image and the entire project are named after Samar Hussein, a 13 year old girl, and the first civilian to die whose identity was recorded. (Vera Lutter, March 2009)