Instant Photography

Derek Jarman’s Garden

When I visited the ‘end of the world’ last week (aka Dungeness – which I have written about here) one place I knew about already and was very keen to visit was the late Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage.

polaroid - Derek Jarman's cottage, Dungeness

Anyone living in this environment is going to have a challenge on their hands, so you’d have to be very determined and creative to establish such a beautiful garden in this wilderness. It’s a little neglected and over-grown now, but you can still see the shapes and structures and some of the hardier plants are still thriving. I would love to have seen it in its heyday, I think I might try and get hold of his book  about the project and his life (there’s also this very moving article by Howard Sooley, who took the photos for the book in The Guardian).

polaroid - Prospect Cottage, Dungeness

It was also very exciting to be shooting with my Polaroid SX-70 again and using proper 600 film- I don’t have much of this wonderful stuff left now but this little cottage was definitely worth a shot or two – so pretty.

There is raised wooden text on the side of the cottage depicting selected lines from John Donne’s poem, The Sun Rising:

BUSY old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us ?
Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run ?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late school-boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices ;
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

Thou, Sun, art half as happy as we,
In that the world’s contracted thus ;
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that’s done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere ;
This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.

You Might Also Like

2 Comments

  • Reply
    Life with Kaishon
    5 March 2012 at 01:55

    Oh! What a delightful little cabin by the sea. Love the poem! You always find the best things to see and think about. I am thankful for you Angie Muldowney!

    • Reply
      Angie
      6 March 2012 at 20:08

      Are worlds are so different but I love so much that we get to share them :) x

    Leave a Reply