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Distinguished Speaker Series
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Mauldin Garden Club
Distinguished Speaker Series

Sam Abell Seeing Gardens

Renowned National Geographic photographer, author and lecturer Sam
Abell presents his illustrated talk, Seeing Gardens, on
Tuesday, February 9th at 7 pm at the Poinsett Club.

Sam Abell is the author/photographer for three garden-themed books: Seeing Gardens, Contemplative Gardens and The Inner Garden. In addition he was photographer for the National Geographic articles, ‘Herbs for all Seasons’ and ‘Gardening in America’.

Drawing on 30 years’ experience as a National Geographic staff photographer, Mr. Abell brings to audiences his remarkable images and stories as a guest in some of the most select and compelling gardens in the world.

In addition he relates the beauty of these gardens to other sites–those ‘garden-like’ places found in the world’s wilderness areas as well as the garden-inspired imagery found in societies where floral beauty is most highly esteemed.

It is this dynamic synergy between ornamental gardens, ‘wild’ gardens and those ‘found’ gardens that awaken Mr. Abell’s audiences to the universal truth that the beauty of the garden is all around us.

Sam Abell Seeing Gardens

EVENT INFORMATION
Event: Mauldin Garden Club Distinguished Speaker Series
Featuring: Sam Abell – Seeing Gardens
Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Time: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location: Poinsett Club – Ballroom
807 East Washington Street
Greenville, SC 29601

TICKET INFORMATION
Price: $35.00 per person (Limited seating. Secured seats will be assigned as payment is received.)
Includes lecture presentation and wine & cheese reception with Mr. Abell
Purchase: SOLD OUT! If you have already purchased tickets they will be held under your name at the WILL CALL table outside the Ballroom at the Poinsett Club.

Questions?
Call Tammy J. BarberMGC
President
864.640.0905

Mr. Abell will be happy to sign your Sam Abell books. Please feel free to bring them with you to the event.


More About Our February 2016 Distinguished Speaker:
One of the world’s premier photographers combines candid, personal narrative and lush full-color photography in a fascinating international odyssey in search of the world’s great gardens, in a three-part volume that includes “The Garden,” “Wild Gardens,” and “Seeing Gardens” and ranges from English historic gardens to minimalist Zen gardens in Japan. His forty-year career has been dedicated to achieving art through documentary photography. Mr. Abell was a founder of the Santa Fe Center of Photography and has been a member of the boards of the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY and the University of Virginia Museum of Art.

What the pros say about Sam Abell:
Traveling the world for National Geographic, photographer Abell nourishes his reverence for gardens. This unique perspective translates into a refined ability to capture stunning garden images, whether they happen to materialize in a commonplace moment, or in the rare opportunity to document a 600-year-old Japanese landscape. Be it a floral babushka glimpsed on a Moscow bus ride, or an enthralling pattern of English hedgerows shrouded in mist, each frame from Abell’s camera resonates with a vital life force, while his visionary lens imprints each photograph with a contemplative grace. In this masterful photographer’s latest book, a cornucopia of intimate vignettes, breathtaking scenery, and intriguing tableaus are thematically arranged in four distinct chapters spanning designed gardens, wild vistas in nature, cultural representations, and the artist’s singular visions. A mesmerizing portfolio suitable for garden and photography collections alike. – By: Alice Joyce of Booklist

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In his 1990 book Stay This Moment, National Geographic photographer Sam Abell wrote, “There are few fresh photographs of gardens because photographing beautiful things is difficult.” Now, almost as if in answer to himself, Abell has produced Seeing Gardens, with 150 quiet, intensely gorgeous full-frame images from around the globe that stand as a testament to his ability to do exactly that: photograph beautiful things in a fresh and inventive way. In his simple, elegant text, Abell provides insights into how he came to take many of his better known images, such as National Hotel, Moscow, Russia, which features a handful of pears resting on a windowsill with the Kremlin in the background. Perhaps never before have Abell’s sumptuous photographs been placed in a more apt context–that of the garden, both in a literal sense, like his stunning images of temple gardens in Japan, and in a figurative sense, including his shot of a blue neon sign that simply says “FLOWERS.” By: Walt Opie for Amazon.com Review

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“National Geographic photographer (1970-2005), Sam Abell is a legend in the photography world. Sam Abell’s work is complex, thoughtful, inspiring. He is considered one of the most articulate voices in media, with a knack for great story telling.

‘For me, photography was freeing. Thirty years at National Geographic allowed photography to take me into life.’ Abell doesn’t use flash—‘You don’t need it.’ In fact, he no longer carries a flash on assignment. Abell shoots with ‘borrowed light’ because, as he says, it ‘casts a spell.’

Photography is and always will be a way to be in life.” – By: Seattle Tall Poppy

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“Sam Abell is an inveterate and habitual composer of scenes.

There is seldom any post-production of his images. No cropping or correcting. He thinks through all that before he releases the shutter.” – David Maxwell Braun of National Geographic

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“Sam is widely regarded for the elegance, structure and precision he brings to his editorial and documentary photography.” – By Dallas Center for Photography

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“Celebrated photographer Sam Abell has been a mainstay in the landscape photography and photojournalism worlds for decades. Immensely well-known and popular … Abell’s signature landscape photography has graced the pages of such magazines as National Geographic and Popular Photography.” – By Amazon.com:

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Sam Abell is one of the most experienced and accomplished teachers and photographers in the field today. From 1970 to 2005, Sam worked for National Geographic as a contract and staff photographer and as a Photographer in Residence.

In 1990, his work was the subject of a one-person exhibition at the International Center of Photography in New York. Accompanying the exhibit was a mid-career retrospective monograph titled, Stay This Moment. Since then he has published three collections of his work:  Seeing Gardens, Sam Abell: The Photographic Life, and, most recently, The Life of a Photograph. In addition, Sam maintains a career as a writer, teacher, and lecturer on photography. – By Maine Media Workshops

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Distinguished Speaker Event is SOLD OUT