US Botanic Garden Photo Exhibit
Some 20 years ago, photographer Vaughn Sills visited a home in Athens, GA, and noticed the "energy, or magic or spirit" that surrounded her in the garden. That was the first African American garden she photographed, and she's continued the project every since, traveling throughout the south. Now, there's a wonderful new exhibit of her garden photos at the US Botanic Garden in Washington DC.
According to Sills, "these gardens speak a certain language, a language, I'm convinced, that is about the earth, about beauty, and about spirit.... It's a language whose sound is so lyrical that, even though I don't know the nuances of all the words, I use it to make these photographs."
Whether she's photographing Pearl Fryer's topiary garden (above) in Bishopville, NC, or Jessie Mae Smith's garden in Thomson, GA (left), Sills says the photos document "a tradition that is a way of using the land that is both historically significant and aesthetically resonant."
Historians have traced this particular garden style back to West Africa. Sills says that slaves brought with them both plant seeds and a knowledge of gardening, but they also brought "an aesthetic rich in visual style and ideas, some still in evidence today."
Don't miss this important and unique exhibition ... it runs through April 19th.
(photos: Vaughn Sills courtesy USBG)
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