Beyond the Garden Gate

In 1998, Victor Rook decided to document a year in the life of a cottage-style Victorian garden in Virginia, using time-lapse photography to record the passing seasons. The result is a labor of love, but one with all the excitement of watching grass grow. Rook makes good on his promise that viewers will experience a garden as they never have before, as his camera hops, skips and jumps from close-up shots of insects, birds, rabbits and dogs to overly repetitious shots of individual flowers unfolding. Backed by a soundtrack of tasteful, subdued music selections along with leaves rustling and an occasional bird call, the video is as soporific as a New Age meditation exercise. Still, while the individual frames are stunning, the overall result is disorienting; there is just no sense of where one is or how the flower beds are laid out. While the hard-core horticulturist or nature photographer may find this enjoyable, it's an optional purchase for most collections. Aud: P. (J. Reed)