Tag Archives: hands


Beth Chatto


Very sad to hear that Beth Chatto, nurserywoman, author and one of the most influential horticulturists of recent times, has died, aged 94. Her belief in natural planting, working with nature in local environments has been of great significance to modern gardening. I was lucky enough to photograph her a few times in her garden in Essex, and these portraits were taken in 2008. Each meeting started with a cup of tea, and her quiet nature and small stature always hid her great significance in the gardening world. From the series 43 Gardeners Hands, which was part of the International […]

John Brookes


I was sad to hear last week that John Brookes, the renowned garden designer, has died aged 84. For those non-gardeners reading this post, he also wrote many books on the subject and received an MBE for Garden Design and services to horticulture in 2004. A portrait of John from the Gardeners’ Hands project in 2008.  

Gardeners’ Hands


In December 2008 I started a project which evolved into set of images called 43 Gardeners’ Hands. This was exhibited at Kew through the summer of 2009. Four more photographs were taken just after the exhibition deadline, and as a result were never exhibited. So, clockwise from top left: Dan Hinckley, Tim Richardson, Rosemary Alexander and Will Giles.

19th century revisited – Photogravure


A printing technique that has long fascinated me is photogravure, a black and white process developed in the late 19th century. Frequently seen in old books, the texture and tonality is beautiful, and very different to that you would achieve with silver gelatin printing. Often purposely dark and with lower contrast, the images may not suit everybody, but I was intrigued enough to attend a workshop recently. With photogravure, an image is etched into a sensitized metal plate, which has been exposed to a large contact negative. The plate is inked and drawn through a press in contact with paper.  […]