The Emerald Necklace Project

December 2nd 2022 - January 14th 2023

In 1850 and again in 1859, Frederick Law Olmsted, considered the father of landscape design in the United States, undertook months-long walking tours of Great Britain visiting parks, stately homes and enjoying the natural beauty of the rural countryside. Olmsted would use these tours as inspiration for his many projects for cities, universities and private spaces across the US, imprinting the distinctly British landscape ideal of realising the sublime in nature.

British artist Hugh Hamshaw Thomas, known for his manipulated photography that questions and reinterprets the “Picturesque” ideals of nature and beauty took Olmsted’s approach in reverse, training his eye and his lens on the now mature Olmsted-designed linear system of parks in Boston known as the Emerald Necklace.

Using colours inspired by the period, and in particular the notable art collector, Isabella Stuart Gardener, this body of photographic work is realised in four colour tints: Emerald, Pigeon Blood Ruby, Porcelain Blue and Antique Silver.