Garden Portraits

Description

A photographic portrait of 16 private gardens in New York and Connecticut through the seasons, weathers, and times of day. For his third book of landscape photographs with Monacelli, following Magnificent Trees of the New York Botanical Garden and The Rockefeller Family Gardens, Larry Lederman has selected 16 private gardens in New York State and Connecticut and studied them in depth, presenting views through the seasons and weathers to capture their essential spirit. As Gregory Long, President Emeritus of the New York Botanical Garden, observes- "After selecting the gardens, Lederman sets out to learn and understand them. He visits in all seasons, in all weather, at many times of day, in many light conditions. He wants to analyze their design and study their character. He wants to know their plants and see their environmental conditions and visual elements from many points of view. He wanders. He walks the paths, forward and backward, and stops frequently so that his camera can memorize views and details. As a result of this time spent and such intense scrutiny, he sometimes discovers aspects of a place that the residents themselves have never seen or fully appreciated. I think the owners of the gardens in this book will see vistas, patterns, designs on the land they did not know they possess. They will love their even gardens more, and their commitments will grow."

Larry Lederman has been photographing landscapes for the past ten years, with a focus on The New York Botanical Garden, where he is a member of the Board of Advisors. His work has been exhibited at the Mertz Gallery at the Garden and at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York. He is the author of Magnificent Trees of the New YorkBotanical Garden and Rockefeller Family Gardens and the principal photographer of Interior Landmarks- Treasures of New York and Frederic Church's Olana on the Hudson. Gregory Long is President Emeritus of the New York Botanical Garden.

Named one of Flower Magazine's Favorite Books of 2020 "Offer[s] inspiration for novice landscape photographers." - Associated Press "Most consider the portrait and the landscape to be opposing visual expressions. In Garden Portraits: Experiences of Natural Beauty, photographer Larry Lederman turns that thinking on its head, capturing gardens with the tenderness and familiarity often reserved for a sitting subject." - Flower Magazine "There is much to learn about the placement of plants and garden elements ... and you'll turn to this book again and again for landscape design inspiration." - Garden Design "Visually stunning." - Garden Collage "Splendid illustrations and informative text." - Bellewood Gardens "Garden Portraits: Experiences of Natural Beauty captures stunning views and fleeting moments in public and private landscapes around the states of New York and Connecticut." - Southampton Press