The Journal of Photography publishes a daily guide to work it has uncovered, and every now and again you come across some true photographic gems. To my mind, this series of photographs, The Desiring Garden by Jamie Moxtone-Graham (http://www.jamiemaxtonegraham.com) is one such gem.

I have little context about the photographer and his work other than this series of images and the other work on his website. The series itself takes as a starting point the paintings of Henri Rousseau and use manufactured gardens created in small spaces found in the urban concentration of Hanoi, and using produce from the local markets. Like Rousseau, Maxtone-Graham is exploring the exotic and the juxtaposition of people and animals with exotic plants and surroundings. I think the resulting images are rather beautiful, but perhaps have connections which go back much further than Rousseau. The first of the images shown above surely is as much about the long tradition of paintings of the Madonna and Child, with the child regularly shown at his mother’s breast.