“Nature shielded from the elements inspire me. A painting is concealed behind each window. Flowers sitting on the alloy framework, playing with one another on one airplane like onto a canvas, leaves climbing in the smallest asperity. I found in those gardens that the quietude of a museum.”

All these, the words out of Samuel Zeller, whom for two years has been researching and photographing greenhouses and botanical gardens across Europe.

Samuel Zeller' Photographs of Greenhouses Look Like Oil Paintings

Observing the way plants trees and flowers push against the dappled, translucent glass of these regal buildings, hinting at what lies inside, is something that all started when, in 2015, on the road home by a “particularly bad day at work”, Samuel got off the train early to visit a botanical garden. “My anger and stress heightened my sensitivity. In that green island inside a town, I discovered what I saw as a set of paintings on the other side of the glass, a refracted reality. I took the first ten photos of the job daily.”

That project happens to be Botanical, of which we discuss today, and which is currently offered in a brand new publication of the same name, published byHoxton Mini Press. It’s why Samuel managed to change careers and do something that he enjoys. “A year after my visit to the backyard I said goodbye to my career as a designer, realizing that photography has been the best tool I’d against the crazy rhythm of the society,” he clarifies.

“I have traveled to a lot of distinct areas in Europe, intending to seek out those glimpses of character shielded from the elements. It took me 26 years to understand how fragile life can be and how important it is for us to slow down and do what we love. I guess that good thing takes time to grow.”