Jane Fulton Alt was never a gardener. That changed overnight when her husband, Howard, unexpectedly passed away. He left behind a partially realized native garden, his response to a deepening concern about climate change. Howard’s vision of transforming their lawn into an extensive vibrant ecosystem loomed large for Alt. With the help and encouragement of her husband’s mentors, she picked up a spade and began to dig, assuming full stewardship of the native garden while finding a new source of creativity and sustenance amid the grieving process. Still Life: A Photographer’s Journey Through Grief and Gardening is a story of resilience. Alt’s keen eye and deep insights instruct us on how personal loss can be a catalyst for transformation. With texts by teacher and founding member of Spirit Rock Meditation Center James Baraz, native plant evangelist Doug Tallamy, and photography impresario W. M. Hunt, Still Life is a quiet and moving reflection on loss and renewal.
Books
Still Life: A Photographer’s Journey through Grief and Gardening
Essays by James Baraz, Doug Tallamy, and W. M. Hunt
$40.00
Hardbound
8.5 x 8.5 inches
104 pages
47 color illustrations
ISBN: 978-1-969303-00-5
About the Authors
Jane Fulton Alt was born in Chicago in 1951 and began exploring the visual arts while pursuing a career as a clinical social worker. She is the author of Look and Leave: Photographs and Stories of New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward (2009) and The Burn (2013). Her portfolio “Crude Awakening” appeared in publications worldwide. Alt’s work is held in thirty-one permanent and private collections worldwide. She is a three-time winner of Photolucida’s Critical Mass for her Katrina and Burn portfolios. Alt resides in Evanston, Illinois and her beloved adopted city, New Orleans.
James Baraz is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and has led the online course “Awakening Joy” since 2003. He is the co-author of Awakening Joy (2012) and Awakening Joy for Kids (2016).
Doug Tallamy is a Professor of Agriculture at the University of Delaware, where he has authored more than a hundred research publications and has taught for more than forty-five years. His work has transformed our understanding of the relationship between native plants and wildlife. Tallamy is the author of Bringing Nature Home (2009), the best-selling bible of for creating native and diverse habitats for insects, birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
W. M. Hunt is a collector, curator, and consultant who lives and works in New York City, where he also teaches at the School of Visual Arts. He is the author of The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious (2011).