Close: garden designs in photography by Allan Pollok-Morris

Work by celebrated photographer Allan Pollok-Morris is set to capture the unique qualities of Scotland’sgardens and land-art when it is showcased at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) for the first time.

The exhibition entitled Close is Allan’s attempt through words and images to capture the works of garden designers, plants people, artists and architects that have been created against a backdrop of the natural beauty of the Lowlands, Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

Close is the culmination of four year’s work by Allan who explained, ‘’When a Scotland on Sunday poll in December 2004 voted Ian Hamilton Finlay’s garden at “Little Sparta’’ to be the most important work of Scottish art it was clear that it wasn’t just me who felt that there was something unique about gardens and land art in Scotland, so I approached the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh with the outline of this project,  with the aim of bringing these subjects to a wider audience.’’

“This may have begun as a project, but it rapidly turned into something of an odyssey for me; a single journey comprised of many different stories. I have presented it with direction, moving from the south of the country to the north and drifting westward.’’

Mairi Gillies, RBGE’s John Hope Gateway Exhibitions Curator, is confident that the exhibition will be well received.  “Close will truly reflect Allan’s passion for photography,” she says, “and the respect he has for the people behind Scotland’s magnificent gardens and land-art. We have been glad to work with Allan in his quest to bring this inspirational collection of photographs to a wider audience.’’

The exhibition also brings together the written words of the 22 creators of the works including Andy Goldsworthy, Charles Jencks, the late Ian Hamilton Finlay, Alec Finlay, Penelope Hobhouse, Xa Tollemache, Jinny Blom, James Alexander Sinclair, Douglas Coltart and Jim Buchanan.

Close, the name chosen by Allan for the exhibition and accompanying 180-page hard back catalogue, was the word used in ancient Scottish dialect to describe a landscape so inspirational that heaven seemed closer to earth in that place.

He explains, “I grew up in MacGregor country, and the most famous member of this clan, Rob Roy MacGregor, was buried in Balquidder because he had described the glen nearby as ‘close.’ I think subconsciously the title is also a tribute to a saying among documentary professionals that an image is of no worth if the photographer isn’t close enough to the subject.’’

Close will be staged in the Exhibition Hall at RBGE from Saturday, September 27 to Sunday, January 11 2009 and will be open daily from 10am to 5pm in September and October and from 10am to 3.30pm from November to January.

Admission is free.

For further information visit the RBGE website