Backwards Illumination

The sun was beginning to get low in the north-west, and was shining on some hollyhocks in our front garden. I saw how interestingly some features of the flower were brought out when looking through the petal into the sun. So, against all the "received wisdom" of photography, I decided to see if a shot (nearly) into the sun might work. This is the result.

For comparison, this is the bloom photographed from in front, in the conventional way.