Doan Ly: Flower Designer and Photographer

Accidental Photographer with Intentional Design

It is always astounding to find photographers who are taking a rigid viewpoint and creating a new iconic movement that inspires and intrigues on extraordinary levels. Doan Ly is a Founder and creator of A.P. Bio who encompasses floral inspiration in her work. She came to the US at the young age of 8 as a refugee from Vietnam. She was raised in Minnesota; she obtains her undergraduate at Stanford and then studied acting at NYU.

Photographic Journey of Doan Ly

Photographer was never an intended career path for Ly who still has moments of awe at how successful she has become. After trying to make it in LA as an actress, she eventually realized that the career path she was pursuing was unfulfilling which led her to pursue an on-going passion for flowers.  As a result, Doan ended up moving to New York to pursue a career as a florist and this is where her photographic journey started.

For the Love of Flowers

Doan admits that photography was somewhat of a surprise progression which simply started when she needed to document her floral creations. She taught herself how to photograph her designs and started playing around with the way in which she photographed each one. The need to escape the predictable monotony of wedding arrangements was the unlikely catapult that amassed an Instagram cult following and with this a demand for more of her untraditional floral arrangements and images.

Ly admits that there was no clear path to her photographic career and still works in a state of continual disorganized growth – for her, each event simply accidentally falls into place and sets out a new pathway for her to explore and follow. Perhaps it is this path of uncertainty that leads to her unfamiliar floral images that pique our interest and question the simplicity of a mere flower.