A place that whispers – step into a land of legend and fairytale at Anderson & Low’s enchanting new art exhibition
Image above – The Dragon of Verdant Hollow © Anderson & Low
In the heart of the Cotswolds, where clipped hedges form secret corridors and ancient trees stand like sentinels of time, an iconic English garden is about to become the stage for a remarkable artistic encounter.
The celebrated Hidcote Manor Garden will host a new exhibition by internationally acclaimed photographic artists, Anderson & Low. Titled “A Place That Whispers,” the project transforms the storied landscape into a fantastical threshold where photography, illustration and storytelling intertwine. The result is an evocative reimagining of Hidcote – one that invites visitors to step beyond the garden’s physical beauty and into a realm of myth, memory and imagination.
Photographic artists Jonathan Anderson and Edwin Low first encountered Hidcote during the quiet months of the pandemic, where the garden revealed a rare sense of solitude. The artists describe feeling as though they had stepped into another world – an oasis of calm far removed from the anxieties of modern life, pronouncing it as “a world more akin to legend, myth and fairy tales than present life.” The garden felt like a forgotten storybook – silent pathways wound through ancient trees, borders burst with personality, and every corner seemed to conceal the beginning of a story. In that moment of stillness, Hidcote became both sanctuary and muse.
“The realm of the fairy tale is never far from the woods. It lies just beyond the bend of the path, behind the knotted tree, or beneath the leaves where no one looks,” the photographers reveal. What subsequently emerged is an exhibition that treats the garden not simply as a subject, but as a living narrative landscape.
Working together since 1990, Anderson & Low have built an international reputation for pushing the boundaries of photographic art. Their works reside in major museum collections including the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Their work is recognised for stretching the boundaries of photography, and the pair have worked with both the Star Wars and James Bond franchises.
At Hidcote, however, their creative focus turns towards something more timeless – the mysterious narrative potential of the garden itself, in a project where photography meets folklore. Drawing inspiration from the darkly enchanting illustrations of Arthur Rackham, Anderson & Low reinterpret Hidcote’s distinctive features, arched topiary, winding pathways and clipped hedges through a folkloric lens. Mythical figures emerge from shadows, while botanical forms subtly shift into anthropomorphic presences. The resulting works merge hand-drawn and digital illustration with photogravure, producing richly layered images that hover somewhere between dream and reality.
Walking through Hidcote’s famed labyrinthine “garden rooms,” shadowed alleys and sunlit borders, the pair were struck by the theatrical quality of the garden’s design and its narrative power. Each vista seems carefully staged, each pathway leading to another reveal. “Each turn at Hidcote feels like the beginning of a story,” they explain. “The vistas do much more than merely contain beauty – they direct the imagination, conjuring presences just out of sight, like a fairy tale unfolding in real time.”
This sense of narrative is central to the exhibition. Every image is accompanied by its own story – whether a myth, fairy story or fantastical tale – drawn from diverse cultural traditions. These stories create a dialogue between text and image, turning the exhibition into both a visual and literary journey, one where the voices within the work are as varied and textured as the landscapes themselves. “Ultimately, this exhibition is a homage,” the artists reflect, “not only to Hidcote and its maker, but to the enduring idea of the garden as a threshold – a place where reality slips into wonder and where landscape itself becomes fable.”
“A Place That Whispers” also introduces a pioneering technical dimension. The works are created using Direct-to-Plate (DTP) photopolymer gravure, an innovative and environmentally responsible chemical-free printmaking technique. The project coincides with Anderson & Low’s appointment as Visiting Research Fellows at the Birmingham School of Art at Birmingham City University, where they are pioneering the DTP photopolymer gravure process. Their research aims to advance the creative possibilities of this sustainable technique while preserving the tactile richness historically associated with gravure printmaking and the material traditions of intaglio printmaking. The initiative aims to position Birmingham City University at the forefront of environmentally responsible, technically innovative and creatively expansive image-making and printmaking – an approach increasingly vital within contemporary artistic practice.
Hidcote, by extension, is as remarkable as the artwork and artistic techniques it now inspires. Hidcote was created by Major Lawrence Johnston in the early 20th century as a pioneering example of the Arts and Crafts garden. Johnston conceived the landscape as a sequence of intricately designed outdoor “rooms,” each with its own mood, colour palette and character. His global plant-collecting expeditions brought botanical treasures back to the Cotswolds, many of which still flourish within the garden’s carefully orchestrated borders.
Today, the Grade I-listed garden is cared for by the National Trust, preserving its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated horticultural landscapes. In Anderson & Low’s hands, however, Hidcote becomes something more than a masterpiece of garden design. It becomes a stage for imagination – a place where the past, the natural world and the language of myth quietly converge. “A Place That Whispers” suggests that the true magic of a garden lies in discoveries just beyond the bend of the path, or the far side of a hedge – a place where reality begins to blur into story.
The “A Place That Whispers” exhibition will showcase 36 artworks by Anderson & Low until 13th September 2026. The exhibition will be on display in the Entrance Hall of the Manor House. Normal admission applies. Find out more here.
