RRP: $95.00

American photographer John Pfahl has an ongoing fascination with man"s complex interaction with nature. This is a photographic survey of gardening and the natural landscape at its boldest, most bizarre and most exuberant. Among the plants featured are vast flowers, terrifying sculptural cacti and succulents, outlandish topiary and extraordinary bonsai: these gardens were planned and planted by true eccentrics, with surreal creativity and great humour. Subjects include huge bright orange Japanese maples, Jeff Koons" monumental "Puppy", a giant pumpkin, other-worldly cacti and "The Largest Fig Tree in the United States". Each photograph is accompanied by a detailed caption with information about the quirky gardens, the plants and their strange cultivation. Rebecca Solnit"s introduction sets the plants in their historic and cultural context.

Author Biography: John Pfahl"s innovative landscape photography has been the subject of dozens of exhibitions in Europe and the US. He has published seven monographs and portfolios of his work including Altered Landscapes, Permutations on the Picturesque and Waterfalls. a Rebecca Solnit is an essayist and critic based in San Francisco. Her books include Wanderlust: A History of Walking, Secret Exhibition: Six Californian Artists of the Cold War Era, A Book of Migrations: Some Passages in Ireland and As Eve Said to the Serpent, which was recently nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award.