The Centre photographique is honouring Sarah Moon (1941), a key figure in the French photography scene and a great explorer of gardens. Spanning two venues, the exhibition presents a selection of works created over the last forty years, accompanied by recently taken photographs from Normandy, shown here for the first time. Bringing together past and present, the exhibition showcases the full range of paths taken by the artist amongst the many gardens she has explored throughout her career as a photographer. Here, we see her wide shots of vegetation bathed in silvery light; there, her portraits of flowers and birds in vibrant colours. Taking its title from the world of painting, the exhibition D’après nature (From Life) showcases an artist who has always approached photography with a free spirit, placing the perceived reality within a garden of her own invention, inhabited by marvellous birds and bathed in blacks and deep pigments.

Sarah Moon’s creative residency in Normandy, as well as the two-part exhibition, are taking place as part of the Normandie Impressionniste festival, from which they have received support. The exhibition at the Jardin des Plantes has also been made possible thanks to the support of the City of Rouen.