USING THE CAMERA AS A GARDEN TOOL
Charles Mann

As a garden photographer I have many occasions to look through the lens and try to see if a particular viewpoint inspires some special satisfaction that compels me to snap the shutter. What a photographer is hunting for is that certain special organization of elements that give an extraordinary sense of gratification. We generally call this hunt-for-the-right-juxtaposition part of the process "composition." What composition amounts to is the arranging of elements in the reference of the frame. In fact, managing exposure, depth of field, shutter speed and most other concerns regarding the picture taking process are merely technicalities to be learned. But "composition" is the creative input aspect of the process and so I have come to define photography as "the fixing of the frame."

Some photographers carry the frame (camera) around with them to Timbuktu, to a coral reef, inside a cave or even up into outer space. They are hunting for the special composition in situ. Others leave the frame at home and bring the elements into the studio to be arranged there. Some create even the elements themselves in a computer, with collage or using other techniques. Still, many of the "created" compositions may or may not pass the test of aesthetic satisfaction. Just because we make an arrangement does not necessarily cause it to be pleasing. Nevertheless the frame is always there to contain what we have done or what we have found and to define the boundaries of our attention. The frame is a necessary part of the composing process and of the viewing experience.

The mystery here, of course, is the question of just exactly what causes one arrangement to be satisfying and another not so much. This can't be taught or strictly analyzed, though many guidelines about design, arrangement, color, repetition, contrast, movement, balance and so forth have been proffered. In the end, it is a non intellectual pleasure that bypasses thought and goes straight to our intuitive aesthetic sensibility and produces what I like to call the "ah" experience.

Now for the garden. As a garden photographer, I fall into the first category of photographers, the frame carriers. I travel and hunt far and wide for the next wonderful garden, from Timbuktu to, well, wherever it might be. And when I'm in a garden, I hunt again, moving the frame here and there until I find the "ah." But as a gardener, I fall into the second category, the element arrangers. The garden is my studio, a blank space in which I am free to arrange things within the limits of my environment.

What I would like to suggest to all gardeners is that they become alert to the notion that they are creating a picture, and the object of this creation is some harmony that produces a special satisfaction. When we remember to include and use the frame, the dynamic relationships of the elements we've arranged become much more apparent. So also do we more clearly see the things in the "picture" which are interfering with the "ah." So when you are "composing" your garden, or developing some part of the composition, try using the camera frame as a way to see just where there might be elements which are inconsistent or incomplete, and not "working". So often a critical addition or subtraction - perhaps a misplaced ornament, adding a wall, or filling in a "hole" with a plant magically reconciles the overall effect, as if we added the missing weight on a drooping mobile. The frame is a key tool which will draw your attention to details, disorder and relationships you may otherwise never notice.

Gardening is compelling for a number of reasons - we get to create, we get to nurture, we learn patience and we get to rub elbows with the mystery of growing things. But we also are compelled by the intrinsic allure of, for lack of a more precise term, "beauty."This is the same allure that draws us to a wonderful photograph. Both have brought us nearer to the "ah.