Photographer Mariam Sholaja explores the Cattleya flower as an icon of feminity

After watching 2011 French Action Film ‘Colombia’, photographer and creative director Mariam Sholaja was inspired. “The film is centred around an assassin who leaves a Cattleya flower with every murder she commits.” The symbolism of the Cattleya flower is a point that stood out for Mariam: “Being born in spring, I have always felt an appreciation for flowers.” Particularly, The Cattleya flower - a type of orchid native to South America, typically associated with vitality and fertility. As suggested by the title ‘Cattleya’, Mariam draws inspiration from the flower, using it as a motif to explore beauty, strength and contemporary divine femininity.