These photographs were taken at the Tower of London in 2025, where nearly 30,000 ceramic poppies wereinstalled to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe (VE Day). What struckme most was the sheer abundance of flowers — a gesture that feels both beautiful and desperate. AsSvetlana Adoneva writes, in the absence of ritual, flowers become a way to express what cannot bespoken; a way to act when nothing else feels possible.Shot on analogue film, with light leaks and material imperfections, the image moves away fromdocumentary clarity. Unexpectedly, the light leaks themselves formed the shape of a cross. This was notplanned — it simply appeared through the process of photographing — and I was struck by howappropriate this unintended symbol felt in the context of collective mourning.