Fleur's flowers often fall like watercolour onto the page, almost slipping away from their outline. The garden is left far behind and the pictures are more akin to looking down the lens of a microscope than swishing through a border. These are plants out of time and place, and locked into their own perpetual strangeness which, of course, they have always had, but which you had failed to notice in among all the gardening.Monty Don in The Observer Seen through the lens of Fleur Olby's camera the world is a beautiful place. Fleur's highly stylised images are her trademark, they began with a love of nature and the desire to convey detail and essence in it's simplest form. A collection of plants and flowers presented beautifully, supported by unobtrusive design. In this context, by virture of being paired-up over the spreads, the colours and forms echo and contrast with each other. The viewer is constantly surprised by the sheer range of shapes, textures and patterns. Fleur Olby: Plant Portraits
Available from these sellers. Fleur Olby lives and works in the United Kingdom. She is regularly commissioned to produce photographs of plants for many UK publications, including Elle Decoration and The Observer Magazine. Publisher: Fuel Publishing (November 15, 2005) 11.9 x 8.9 x 0.6 inches Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds #3,385,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Nature & Wildlife > Plants & Animals in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Individual Photographers in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Equipment, Techniques & Reference 15 star100%See all verified purchase reviewsTop Customer ReviewsMonty Don reviewing `Fleur' in The Observer Magazine (UK) Nov. 2005. See and discover other items: photographs This is a bargain book and quantities are limited. price sticker identifying them as such. Gardening Mad [Bargain Price] On the other side of the Atlantic, the "London Observer" gardening columnist Monty Don collected 48 of his insightful, entertaining columns for "Gardening Mad."
No matter which essay you choose to read, a nugget of knowledge and a grin at his pithy wit are sure to be your reward. -- Gardening KnowHow magazine, December 1998 Monty Don writes a weekly gardening column for the "London Observer." He has had various occupations over the years but gardening and writing have always been at the center of his "real life." He and his family live in Herefordshire, England. Publisher: Soma Books (May 1998) 0.8 x 8 x 10 inches Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds #7,352,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Landscape Design > Essays in Books > Deals in Books 14 star100%See all verified purchase reviewsTop Customer ReviewsFour Stars| The Jewel Garden: A Story of Despair and Redemption From the Garden to the Table: Growing, Cooking, and Eating Your Own FoodFleur Olby’s recent photography show at the Gallery on the Green in Settle, North Yorkshire, proves that occupying a smaller space – in this case an old telephone box – is no barrier to staging a meaningful and immersive exhibitionFleur Olby’s recent photography show at the Gallery on the Green in Settle, North Yorkshire, proves that occupying a smaller space – in this case an old telephone box – is no barrier to staging a meaningful and immersive exhibition
Fleur Olby’s recent photography show at the Gallery on the Green in Settle, North Yorkshire, proves that occupying a smaller space – in this case an old telephone box – is no barrier to staging a meaningful and immersive exhibition… The transformation of architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s Bankside Power Station on the banks of London’s river Thames, into one of the world’s great modern art galleries in the form of Tate Modern appears as an almost natural evolution. However, the same cannot be said of another of Scott’s designs; possibly his most iconic creation and certainly one of his smallest; the scarlet red K6 telephone box that has become a symbol of the UK, so familiar the world over. But the Gallery on the Green in Settle, North Yorkshire is precisely that, a vibrant red beacon of art described as the “smallest public art gallery in the world”, open 24/7 and “filled to capacity at least twice a day!” Where once the illuminated panel in the telephone box drew those who needed to contact friends and family or call for help in a world before the advent of the mobile telephone, it is now the word ‘Gallery’ that is illuminated and attracts visitors to the art displayed inside.
It’s within the confines of this unanticipated space that photographer Fleur Olby presented Green on White, an installation that combines the vibrancy of her elegant photographic forms with the very essence of the flowers she portrays in her exquisite and jewel-like photographs. “I wanted to make a small installation, which is a way I’m interested in working,” she says. The series is a selection taken from her book, Fleur: Plant Portraits. As the title suggests, Olby isolates her chosen subjects on a white background, heightening their sculptural and abstract qualities in her compositions. In one of these photographs, Fritillaria imperialis, six vibrant yellow petals form a cauldron of life from the very heart of which a lemon yellow stamen rises, out of pools of rich greens hues that radiate outwards, each cradling a pearl-like form of innocence. In contrast Olby also reveals the complex architectural like structure and beauty of a leaf in Fern II, its feather like form arching across the plane of virgin white like a feather caught in the breeze.
In Barred horsetail, the prehistoric plant reveals itself like strands of DNA. The beauty of these natural forms, that Olby captures so eloquently in her work, is heightened within this unique gallery space, as she plays with the very essence of their being. On the floor of the gallery – one metre square – Olby planted white hyacinths in a cushion of moss (above); the heavenly fragrance of which fills the senses as you open the door, capturing the visitor and transporting them into their own personal wonderland. Green on White was at Gallery on the Green, Settle, North Yorkshire, BD24 9HG last month. Its current exhibition is Yorkshire Food, Yorkshire People, a photographic installation by Joan Ransley. , and is republished with permission. Pink Floyd fans may recognise the cover of our June issue. It’s the original marked-up artwork for Dark Side of the Moon: one of a number of treasures from the archive of design studio Hipgnosis featured in the issue, along with an interview with Aubrey Powell, co-founder of Hipgnosis with the late, great Storm Thorgerson.