When the brilliant, controversial filmmaker Derek Jarman (whose works include Caravaggio, The Last of England, Edward II, Wittgenstein, and Blue) discovered in 1986 that he was HIV-positive, he decided to construct a garden at his cottage on the coast of Dungeness, Kent, a flat, bleak, often desolate expanse of land that faces a nuclear power plant. This is Jarman's personal account of how his garden evolved, from its earliest beginnings in 1986 through the last days of his life.
Howard Sooley's photographs capture the garden during all its different stages and in every season of the year. Photographs from various angles reveal the garden's complex geometric plan, its magical stone circles, and its beautiful and bizarre sculptures. The photographs also provide glimpses of Jarman's life in Dungeness: walking, weeding, watering, or simply enjoying life. This book will appeal to all those who are themselves practicing gardeners, as well as the legions of admirers of this extraordinary man.
