Garden Stories

Harman, Amanda

Abstract

Published by Blue Sky Gallery to coincide with a Solo Exhibition at the gallery in 2016, this series of unintended or ‘accidental’ still lives, made around the gardens and outbuildings of an English country house, seeks to make visible the unseen and often unsung work of the gardeners. I first encountered the gardens at Tyntesfield as a volunteer, working in the cut flower garden for a year alongside the other gardeners. Later, I was drawn back to the gardens to make pictures of my experiences there.

With its particular sense of place, the historic buildings still in daily use and the connections to the past histories of the garden, there were many hidden stories to bring to light. By uncovering the small signs of the day to day - the tending of plants, their protection from insects, disease and weather; the nurturing of seedlings and tender plants in the glasshouses, the harvesting, drying and storing of crops, and the gathering of flowers to be arranged and placed in the house - these observations seek to embody the gardener’s labours and to reveal the unseen stories of the gardens, and those who tend them.

• Book Type: Authored Book
• Publication Date: Apr 7, 2016
• Deposit Date: Aug 21, 2019
• Keywords: Photography, Still Life, gardens, historic, national trust,
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/2373960
• Publisher URL: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/magazine/814979
• Contract Date: Feb 1, 2016