The English Garden (World of Art)

"I think a successful photograph incorporates a love of the subject. Edwin Smith loved everything English and gardens in particular. Using black-and-white photos of superb quality, he makes a garden transcend black and white. If you are missing out colour, of course your attention goes to the structures, forms and textures. Well, I am looking at some of his pictures of a garden called Great Dixter, and even though this book was published in the 1960s, the garden looks almost the same now. I was there a few weeks ago. What typifies it is the wonderful formal structure of topiary which is decorated with an extravaganza of flowers. I think they are wrong because even in a cottage garden you have a sort of structure. Usually there is a path coming up to the door and the whole thing is laid along the path. In the case of a sophisticated garden like Great Dixter, the original designer Edward Lutyens knew a lot about Italian architecture and Italian gardens. The formal structure of gardens over here owes a lot to Italian gardens which developed in the 16th century. They do."