This afternoon I received an advance copy of the book I shot with Katie Rushworth and Tara O’Sullivan last summer. Really pleased!
Plants, Beds and Borders with Katie Rushworth
‘Plants, Beds and Borders’ with Katie Rushworth
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Category Archives: Gardens
RHS Wisley
A selection of work taken recently for the RHS at Wisley.
Main house and laboratories
Herbaceous borders, Battlestone Hill
Canal with laboratories in background
Glasshouse Borders
Glasshouse Borders
Glasshouse Borders
Business is blooming
From a shoot on business women in You Magazine on 16th August 2015. On a large feature, several thousand shots often need editing down to half a dozen or so. This means overlooking many equally good images. So, a small selection of out-takes. The first, a quick shot as I was packing my kit away.
Ellie and Anna at The Flower Appreciation Society
Two more from the same series:
Georgie Newberry from Common Farm Flowers
Nik Southern at Grace & Thorn
Seed collecting, RHS Wisley
A day at the RHS Gardens, Wisley, collecting seeds with staff and volunteers.
Seed collection, RHS Wisley
Seed collection, RHS Wisley
Seed collection, RHS Wisley
Seed collection, RHS Wisley
Seed collection, RHS Wisley
Seed collection, RHS Wisley
Seed collection, RHS Wisley
Seed collection, RHS Wisley
Chelsea Physic Garden
Organic garden and compost course at the Chelsea Physic Garden.
Chelsea Physic Garden, recycled toaster as planter
Compost course at Chelsea Physic Garden
Compost course at Chelsea Physic Garden
WC Garden @Vanguard Court
A revisit to the WC Garden @Vanguard Court Chelsea Fringe project in 2014 for its relaunch as Anna Rose Hughes’ studio.
WC Garden @Vanguard Court
Anna Rose Hughes
WC Garden @Vanguard Court
WC Garden @Vanguard Court
WC Garden @Vanguard Court
WC Garden @Vanguard Court
Foamlea Gardens, Mortehoe in Devon
A shoot for SAGA Magazine, Foamlea Gardens, Mortehoe in Devon. A brief visit.
Foamlea Gardens, Mortenhoe, Devon,
Crocosmia leaves in Foamlea Gardens, Mortenhoe, Devon
Foamlea Gardens, Mortenhoe, Devon
Foamlea Gardens, Mortenhoe, Devon
Foamlea Gardens, Mortenhoe, Devon, Aeonium “Shwartzkopf’
Foamlea Gardens, Mortenhoe, Devon, Geum ‘Mrs Bradshaw’
Foamlea Gardens, Mortenhoe, Devon, Osteospermum ‘Cannington Ray’
From the archives – John Cooper Clarke
John Cooper Clark, Chelsea Flower Show, 2010
An unexpected visitor at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2010…. John Cooper Clarke, who made an appearence at the Tom Hoblyn show garden. I so, so, so wanted him to do this. But he didn’t.
Pinhole Impressions
Pinhole Impressions 3 – Lime tree or Tilia Tomentosa
I have been asked to write about my favourite photograph in conjunction with a talk in early September. This must be one of the most difficult editing processes for a photographer. The decision will change on a daily basis, depending on current projects, work and new ideas that have found space in a notebook. I think the closest I can ever get is one of my favourites. So a few thoughts.
Pinhole Impressions 3 was taken in the winter of 2007. It was part of a series included in the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition in 2008, which was awarded second place in the portfolio category. As this was the inaugural IGPOTY competition, I still have fond memories of taking the photographs and the process leading to the awards.
I always get asked two questions when this image is on display. The first is, “how long did it take in Photoshop to blur the clouds?”. The second is, “how long did it take to sweep the leaves into a perfect circle?”. The answer to both questions is no time at all. With any location photography there is always a certain element of luck. And with experience, you create your own luck. You can’t always predict what will happen, but you know something special will. So you wait.
Gale force winds hit RHS Wisley on this particular day. I was experimenting with Zero 2000 pinhole camera and was about to give up, as the wind was buffeting the camera and tripod. With exposure times of 10 to 15 seconds, this was a problem. But the movement of the clouds grabbed my attention, and I knew there was a chance of capturing something interesting.
When I set the camera up, the tree was covered in leaves, but with the severity of the wind, it was stripped in 20 minutes. Instant ‘Land Art’ in the style of Andy Goldsworthy, but completely natural. As I was shooting film, I had no idea how good (or bad) the image might be, but I had a gut feeling something had happened. In the space of around 90 minutes, I took 5 rolls of film at other locations around Wisley, and this formed a large part the ‘Pinhole Impressions’ series. It’s rare that you have this kind of luck.
The Chelsea Fringe Festival, 2012
A gallery of photographs from my tour of Chelsea Fringe Gardens. The Fringe, in its inaugural year, is a new garden festival, directed journalist and author, Tim Richardson.
From their website :
“The Chelsea Fringe festival is a brand new initiative, entirely volunteer-run in its first year. It’s all about harnessing and spreading some of the excitement and energy that fizzes around gardens and gardening. The idea is to give people the freedom and opportunity to express themselves through the medium of plants and gardens, to open up possibilities and to allow full participation. Entirely independent of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show (though acting with its support), the Fringe will explode out of the showground geographically, demographically and conceptually. It will range from grassroots community garden projects to avant-garde art installations. Our open-access principle means that just about anything goes – as long as it’s interesting and on the subject of gardens, flowers, veg-growing or landscape”.
19.5.12, Chelsea Fringe Festival: The Edible High Road, Chiswick. Left: Devonshire Road, Right: Turnham Green Terrace
The Bicycle Beer Garden team - taking a break at The Edible Bus Stop.
20.5.12, First Chelsea Fringe Festival, Floating Forest on Grand Union Canal at Portobello Dock.
21.5.12, Chelsea Fringe Festival - Pop-up Flower Shop at COS in Brompton Road, London - A collaboration between Clifton Nurseries and COS
Chelsea Fringe 2012: Left: Deborah Nagan, designer of The Garden of Disorientation. Right: Julia Barton, artist, maker of the Heavy Plant Crossing or mechanical plant.
20.5.12, First Chelsea Fringe Festival - Idler's Grove - A medieval herber with odoriferous herbs
Left: The Edible Bus Stop team. Right: Julia Barton, artist, maker of the Heavy Plant Crossing or mechanical plant, outside The Serpentine Gallery
20.5.12, First Chelsea Fringe Festival - Garden of Disorientation - Unlikely scented garden in a former slaughterhouse. Wall mural detail.
Chelsea Fringe, 26.5.12 - 'Reliable Utopias' artist Elisabetta Buffa, with her installation at Exchange Square near Liverpool Street
21.5.12, First Chelsea Fringe Festival - Wish Trees of Chelsea, Dovehouse Green, Dovehouse Street, London
21.5.12, Chelsea Fringe Festival - Pop-up Flower Shop at COS in Brompton Road, London - A collaboration between Clifton Nurseries and COS
Julia Barton with her Heavy Plant Crossing or mechanical plant. Outside The Serpentine Gallery on her journey to the Chelsea Flower Show.
Chelsea Fringe 2012. Left: Oranges and Lemons Garden at St Leonard's, Shoreditch. Right: Pop-up Flower Shop at COS in Brompton Road, London - A collaboration between Clifton Nurseries and COS
20.5.12, Chelsea Fringe Festival: The Mojito bar at The Garden of Disorientation - an unlikely scented garden in a former slaughterhouse.
19.5.12, Chelsea Fringe Festival, Dalston Eastern Curve Garden.
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall at the Geffrye Museum, 30.5.12 - planting up a herb container.
21.5.12, First Chelsea Fringe Festival - Left: Pimp Your Pavement - London, near Elephant and Castle. Right: Pimp Your Pavement - Globe Street near Elephant and Castle
Tony Heywood & Alison Condie's underground landscape installation for Cityscapes Garden Festival, at the Old Vic Theatre tunnels, London. Not part of The Chelsea Fringe, but acknowledged in the same spirit on the Fringe website.
Tony Heywood & Alison Condie’s underground landscape installation