LONDON.- The Garden by Siân Davey is now open in a free outdoor exhibition in Soho Photography Quarter, just outside The Photographers’ Gallery. A new book, The Garden by Siân Davey, is published on 9 April 2024 by Trolley Books, £50 www.trolleybooks.com

Starting in 2020, British photographer Siân Davey transformed her abandoned garden over three summers into a vibrant space, filled with wildflowers, birdsong and people.

Together with her son, Luke, Davey cultivated a space rooted in love. They researched native flowers and encouraged biodiversity, sourcing seeds and plants locally.

When the flowers bloomed, they called in the community. Everyone had a place in The Garden; the mothers and daughters, the lonely, the marginalised, lovers, the traumatised and heartbroken and those that had concealed a lifetime of shame. They became enfolded into the story of the garden, creating and partaking in the story equally.

As the garden evolved it became an expression of joy, interconnectedness, yearning, sexuality, and defiance. The garden became a metaphor for the human heart itself.

Alongside the large-scale artworks, visitors can listen to The Garden soundscape (2023, by Siân Davey) and watch the film (2023, by Dylan Friese-Greene and Siân Davey), which plays every day from dusk.

Siân Davey will also be giving a talk at The Photographers' Gallery on Friday 19 April 6.30-7.45pm. Please visit the gallery website for more information.

Siân Davey (b. 1964, Brighton) worked as a psychotherapist for 15 years before launching her career in photography in 2014. She draws on her experience in psychotherapy and as a mother to inform her practice. Her work is in a range of national and international collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, and The French National Collection, Paris. She lives and works in Dartington, Devon.