Garden

by Freeman Patterson

Freeman Patterson has traveled the globe to photograph the wonders of the natural world. In this book, Patterson turns his camera towards the garden in his own backyard. Hear the whisper of wind through a canopy of trees. Inhale the sweet fragrances of ferns and grasses. Observe the vibrant colors of delphiniums, forget-me-nots, poppies, bachelor buttons and cornflowers. Trace the texture of white snowflakes against brown grasses. On early spring mornings, the daffodils dance and the young fronds of hay-scented ferns push their way up to the light. Summer brings lupins as far as the eye can see and robust hostas advancing on Virginia bluebells. Autumn's gold leaves give way to frost-gilded petals, and winter's first snowfall intensifies the red of high-bush cranberries. The expectant earth stirs again in spring as energy kindles and the garden is reborn. In Patterson's garden, rain is as important as sunshine, colors blend seamlessly with fragrances, and everything that lives and grows also dies, the cycle of life keeps rolling.

Genres: Photography

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2003

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read most of this book while traveling from my home in Keswick Ridge to my mother's childhood home in Malden. Although I usually enjoy driving through New Brunswick's forests, its trails and minor roads jumping in and out of view, Patterson's photography and meditative prose highlighted for me the many wild plants filling ditches and highway shoulders. ""Why not take the money we spend annually to fight dandelions and, instead, use it to eliminate utility poles and transformers planted in front of beautiful cathedrals and churches or along magnificent stretches of highway?"" For the time being, removing telephone photos may be impractical, but I think Patterson means here that the normal can sometimes be the spectacular. Why rush to go somewhere significant when what is significant is here, present in abundance.

(www.flickr.com/ocawnad)

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photography and beautifully written. Not so much a how-to book on photography but more the musings of one who is finely attuned to nature and himself.