As dawn breaks and the grey waters of the Ganges shimmer in the rising sun, a part of Kolkata wakes before the rest of the city. Tucked away in a sleepy bylane in the old Armenian quarters of Kolkata, the Mallik Ghat flower market is one of the largest open-air wholesale flower markets in Asia. Every morning, flower-sellers from all over Bengal gather here with their floral offerings of flowers, bouquets, wreaths and garlands as early as four in the morning. They come from all across the state by the first train to Howrah across the river and cross by boat. As Kolkatans gather to buy flowers for the city's many centuries-old Kali temples and family shrines, the sight of men surrounded by heaps of flowers becomes a leitmotif of the market. By seven in the morning, they sell out and disappear without a trace — as swiftly as they arrive.

Across India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, there exist many such flower markets in Delhi, Agra, Lahore, Karachi, Dhaka, and Chattagram where, against the rigid gender norms prevalent in the region, seem to come loose as men sell flowers. 'The Florist', a new photoseries by Jayashree Ganesan of Saffron Creative House, is an ode to these men.

Inspired by the local flower markets of South Asia, where masculine men sell flowers, floral arrangements, and flower garlands from wicker baskets on bustling streets and narrow back-alleys like the Mallik Ghat flower market, 'The Florist' examines the subversive nature of the flower trade in the subcontinent which defies the region's strict gender norms.

In the West, the term 'florist' often conjures up an image of a curated, artisanal profession — one associated with artistry and predominantly white ownership and aesthetic — while those who sell flowers in markets across the Global South are rarely granted the same title. The false dichotomy implicit in this distinction between a 'florist' — an artist, and a 'flower-seller' – an artisan, reveals how notions of labour and artistry are racialised and gendered, separating the 'florist' from the 'flower-seller' in line with a Western orientalist gaze.

'The Florist' challenges our assumptions about gender norms and performative gender roles within South Asian societies, as well as the racialised, Orientalist notions of artistry and artisanship; inviting us to reconsider not just our visual language but also the words we use to describe what is seemingly commonplace.

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