PROTEAS are a magical array of wondrous flowers that beg you to see the mystery within them.

These lush dramatic images of photographer Gil Garcetti, accompanied by the whimsical and at times passionate prose of Larry Livingston, reveal the unique personality of each protea bloom. As you explore the magic and the mystery of nature’s proteas, as given to you by Garcetti and Livingston, you will received an unexpected reward: the uplifting of your spirit in this tension filled world. This is Garcetti’s first still life project and he approaches it with the same intimacy and insight he brings to his human and architectural subjects. Livingston, a writer, served as Dean of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. His prose captions, which range from the whimsical to the profound, from the sardonic to pointed social commentary, treat the flowers as people complete with personae and point of view.