3 Questions

with Charles Mann

Charles Mann has a clear artistic eye and a penchant for destination, desertscape and garden photography. Though the season might not be too conducive to it, he discusses the latter on Monday evening at the Hotel Santa Fe.                                                 

Where does you love for photographing gardens stem from?

I worked in Santa Fe for five years at Plants of the Southwest, as a grower in the early 1980s, where I became interested in gardens and plants. I have always loved photography. I have no formal training and became a 'garden photographer' by default. I spent the next 15 years or so traveling around the western US, Japan, England and other places photographing gardens. I am a photographer who likes gardens, not a gardener who takes photographs.

What can folks expect from your talk?

To hear a lot of thoughts about the nature of art, about what motivates us to want to take pictures in the first place, some anecdotes about the process of looking for photographs, and other observations, all set against a background panoply of colorful pictures, mostly of gardens.

Give one tip to maintaining your garden through the Santa Fe winter.

I have no real info about maintaining a garden in winter. I am not a gardener. Disconnect your hose!

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