Beth Dow's photographs of formal English and Italian gardens capture quiet moments that belie a garden's ever-humming life. In her work, the only movement comes from a suggestion of glimmering light and buzzing pollinators, just out of the frame. In the Garden is a meditation on classic concepts of paradise and garden design, in which the photographer becomes a gardener, guiding the viewer's eye and creating a mood. Whether behind the camera or speaking about her photographs, she approaches her work with a light sentimentality—in every picture, looking for "that held breath moment." She tells us a bit about some of her favorite photographs from In the Garden.
Title: Hillside, Waddesdon Manor
Artist's note: "This is such a simple photograph, but I can just keep looking at it. She may be stone, but I identify with her somehow, lost in the experience of the landscape."
Location: Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, England
Beth Dow is a Minneapolis-based photographer. Listen to her discuss 'In the Garden' in an audio slideshow.
