"Because Eden's genius resides in imagination, it is a mobile
spirit; always found in place but never confined by place. The
spirit of Eden migrates within us, animated through our imaginative
responses to actual places in the material world, in our roles as
gardeners and poets, painters and photographers."
--from the introduction
What did Eden look like? In "Imagining Eden" the photographer
Lyle Gomes observes landscapes that represent the idea of "locus
amoenus"--the pleasant place. The tradition of "locus amoenus" goes
back to the idyllic descriptions of fictional locations, often
called Arcadia, in the writings of Sappho, Apollonius, and Virgil,
in the imagined period of the Golden Age. We also recognize this
concept in Eden, of course, where it suggests a loss that still
haunts our imaginations. It is an idea distinctly different from
that of wilderness, for we feel protected in these places--even
provided for, though there is no sign of toil. The chance that this
Eden might somehow be regained gives the concept its consolatory
power.
For fifteen years, Gomes has traveled across America and Europe
to find examples of this enduring ideal of place in parks, English
gardens, even golf courses. Gomes's search took him to Mount Auburn
cemetery, Central Park, Monticello, the San Francisco Presidio,
villa gardens near Italy's Lake Como, Melbourne Hall in Derbyshire,
and private gardens such as Biltmore and Dumbarton Oaks.
"Imagining Eden" includes an eloquent introductory essay in
which the landscape historian Denis Cosgrove explores how the
concept of the "locus amoenus" relates to Gomes's work, and the
photographs are accompanied by an evocative selection of quotes by
the various settings' designers and by inspired observers. The book
concludes with an extensive interview in which Gomes discusses how
he balances craft and inspiration, the role of research in
preparing a shoot, his preference for black-and-white over color
("I was completely, and immediately, enamored with the silver
image"), and a sense of discovery as a chief motivation in all his
work.
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