Photographs and thoughts on photography and camera collecting
I was standing high up by the monolith and looked down into the quarry. I noticed this clump of daisies all by itself, surrounded by a mass of bare rock. It was too far away to take a decent picture, so I walked down to get a closer view.
Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Sigma 18-50mm f2.8
It’s not all unrelieved bare rocks though. Scattered around the sculpture are small clumps of trees. I suspect that they were not planted by Fite, but rather he built the sculptures around them.
Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Sigma 18-50mm f2.8
I’ve posted about this garden before: See “A Wild and Crazy Garden”. I passed it again the other day and once again was blown away. I really think we should get rid of our lawns, with all of the maintenance, the ecxessive watering, noisy leaf blowers, mowers, trimmers etc. and just replace them with masses of beautiful colorful flowers.
Taken with a Apple Iphone SE II.
I’ve always liked Ivy growing over fences, old buildings, statues etc. I particularly liked this one because the Ivy itself looks dead. Maybe it would make a nice black and white image?
Grounds for Sculpture was originally part of the Trenton Speedway at the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds. This column stands on what was originally the foundation for the Grandstand Extension. It’s now now referred to as the “sculpture pad”
Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
The Grounds for Sculpture website describes the gardens as follows:
In 1984, J. Seward Johnson, sculptor and philanthropist, envisioned a public sculpture garden and museum in Hamilton, New Jersey. His desire was to make contemporary sculpture accessible to all, offering visitors the opportunity to become comfortable with contemporary art through a progressive and self-directed journey.
In 1986, an architectural competition was held for the design of a sculpture park to be located at the old New Jersey State Fairgrounds. The site, which had been abandoned for years, was derelict and barren except for three dilapidated exhibition buildings and fifteen gnarled maple trees. Brian Carey of AC/BC Associates in New York City was selected to be the Project Architect.
Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) was envisioned as a place to exhibit sculpture and as a garden and arboretum. The design included formal and informal aspects. Paved terraces, pergolas, and courtyards juxtaposed natural woodlands, ponds, and bamboo groves. Expanses of lawn were delineated by sculptured rose-covered berms.
Landscape construction began in 1989. Since then over 2,000 trees, representing more than 100 species and cultivars, have been planted. In addition to typical nursery stock, many plants were collected from estates and abandoned nurseries, or were salvaged from construction sites. Many of the rare and unusual trees you find here today were selected by Carey and Bruce Daniels, former GFS Facilities Director and Project Manager.
GFS opened to the public in 1992. Since that time, it has welcomed over three million guests. The sculpture park, which started on 15 acres with 15 works of art on display, has expanded to 42 acres containing nearly 300 contemporary sculptures across the ever-changing landscape. It is a work of art itself.
The interplay between sculpture and horticulture is an important part of the vision for GFS. In founder Seward Johnson’s words, the hope is that GFS will “fill people everywhere with the emotional sustenance derived from the powerful and restorative connection between art and nature.”
A complete list of Horticultural Highlights can be found here.
Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II