About
Lisa Roper
I have been photographing Chanticleer Garden for the past 12 years. I started working as a horticulturist here 33 years ago. Gardening and photography go hand in hand for me. By day my hands are in the soil, planting South African annuals, succulents or the ornamental thistle I grew from seed in the Gravel Garden and Ruin that I tend. I’m staking, watering, deadheading and weeding. In the evening or early morning when I photograph the entire garden, I approach it with a different outlook. My goal is to capture the constantly evolving garden, seeking new perspectives, ways to frame a view, light that is transformative. I endeavor to make photographs that evoke a mood or memory. I also use the experience of photographing to design. I see where repetition or contrast of form is needed, where a sweep of purple allium bulbs should be enlarged, where a view has become obscured. The photographs inform the garden and the garden inspires the photographs.