Tag Archive for ‘nature’ at scatterdrum

Tag Archive for 'nature'

Sunflower, wizened but still beautiful.

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on Thursday, November 26, 2009

. 0 Comments

Over the summer I watched in wonder as my sunflower grew skywards. Inch by inch it became taller than my new rowan tree and then one day in the high winds my Heath Robinson string support system collapsed, leaving my sunflower dangling like a high jumpers pole. Since it’s glory days, the head has been quietly crisping up nicely inside my house. I kept it, because it was still inspirational.

Late summer nature show, beautiful colour and lines on my dill ….

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admin

on Tuesday, August 11, 2009

in Projects, art, artist, creative, environment, flowers, green, photography and project

. 2 Comments

Just couldn’t resist taking a shot of my doorstep herb plant which is gearing up to spread its seeds soon. It’s been shouting out at me to take a shot of it as it gets more beautiful by the day. So with today’s sunshine I finally got my act together. Something to remind of me of summer during the dark winter days ahead.

International Garden Photographer of the Year 2008

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gill moore

on Friday, July 11, 2008

in Japan, artist, australia, award, competitions, culture, environment, exhibition, galleries, gardens, green, links, photography, pinhole photography, prize, talent and websites

. 2 Comments

The International Garden Photographer of the Year Competition is one of the most prestigious photography contests and the Overall Winner this year features the above stunning scene from a Japanese Garden. Australian photographer, Claire Takacs, managed to be in the right place at a wonderful time AND possessed the skills to create a beautiful evocative image. What is it about trees and snow which combines so perfectly.

Talking of trees, allow me to point you in the direction of Paul Debois. He has a series of black and white images taken with a pinhole camera in the Portolio Section of the IGPOY competition (click here to view) which I just adore. Yes, the winning set of shots is beautiful but (in my humble opinion) Debois’ work is more deserving for top spot as it is individual, highly creative and skilful and possesses the ability to move you into another zone. I have always liked Edward Steichen’s work and it was no surprise to read that Paul Debois’ “Pinhole Impressions” has a dab of Steichen inspiration behind it.

Abbas Kiarostami, “Trees in Snow” inspiration for a challenge.

Published

gill moore

on Thursday, April 3, 2008

in Iran, London, art, artist, award, cinema, culture, environment, film, galleries, movies and photography

. 1 Comment

I have a long-standing project I began years ago, a mission to photograph my favourite trees. Sadly, I am nowhere near finished, in fact by it’s very nature I probably never will reach completion. One thing it does do though, is really get me thinking. How can I make my work original and capture the subject with beauty and simplicity? One series of shots from photographer Abbas Kiarostami is etched in my mind as a kind of benchmark.

The work featured here is from the series “Trees in Snow”. Kiarostami is an Iranian photographer. He is super-talented and may be better known to many of you as an award-winning film-maker; “The Wind Will Carry Us” (1999), “A Taste of Cherry” (1997) and “Ten” (2002) are three from his impressive archive. He wrote some words to introduce this series at the V&A, London in 2005.

“Snow descends from

the black clouds

with the whiteness of snow”

The “Trees in Snow” images were borne out of Kiarostami’s long, solitary walks to search for film sets, sometimes covering thousands of miles in the Iranian landscape. Photographing these landscapes allowed him a spontaneous immersion in nature. When travelling alone, he sees his camera as a way of sharing moments which would be torturous if not preserved. The scenes became the equivalent of emotional states and the trees almost human, echoing the saying of the Islamic mystic Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi (born 1165 died 1240): ‘the tree is the sister of man’.