3 Review(s)

First published in 1998 and now available for the first time in a compact, gift-book format, The Plant Kingdoms of Charles Jones is an exquisite visual feast for anyone who draws delight from the bountiful riches of nature. It presents more than 100 photographs of vegetables, fruits and flowers, all taken by the same photographer at around the turn of the 20th century, and all set against neutral, dark or light backgrounds in the style of formal studio 'portraits'. The images have a wider significance in the history of photography and of the still-life in general, as explained in the book's introduction by Robert Flynn Johnson. For a contemporary audience, the photographs' simple and unembellished beauty is the perfect antidote to appetites jaded by processed foods and 21st-century artifice. They communicate and inspire a loving respect for the beauty in nature.