Lonnie Graham, Harry Noisette at The Garden of Enlightenment, Wilmot Frazier Elementary School, Spoleto, Charleston, SC 2002
The Photographer in the Garden
Alice Austen House | September 7 to December 31, 2021
The Alice Austen House is proud to present The Photographer in the Garden September 7- December 31, 2021. Since the invention of the medium, photographers have been drawn by the allure of flowers. This group exhibition is excerpted from the book The Photographer in the Garden, co-published by Aperture and the George Eastman Museum, celebrating the rich history of artists working in the garden as a site of inspiration and reinvention.
The exhibition features works by acclaimed artists: Sam Abell, Alice Austen, Mark Cohen, Stephen Gill, Lonnie Graham, Justine Kurland, Lori Nix, Bill Owens, Sheron Rupp, Collier Schorr, Mike Slack.
In her introduction to the book Jamie M. Allen, associate curator of photography, George Eastman Museum, writes, “When photography was introduced to the public in 1939, it immediately began to displace the record-making function of other art forms, such as drawing and painting. At the time, photographs seemed to be a direct transcription of reality, precisely recording what was put in front of the camera or in contact with photographic materials. In creating these early transcriptions, it is not surprising that most photographers turned to gardens for inspiration.”
Contemporary photographers continue to call into question the “human-nature relationship that these public and private spaces have inspired.”
The compilation of photographs illustrates what Allen describes as, “the changing relationship between humans and nature from the nineteenth century to today. From private flowerbeds to sweeping public spaces, photographers have documented our ever-changing attitude toward the natural world. Their history takes us from an agricultural society through industrialization and suburbanization to today’s global community engaged in discussions about past and present land use.”