Claire Takacs is an Australian garden and landscape photographer who seeks to be surrounded by beauty always. Her love of and use of light, help to capture the beauty and essence of each space she visits.  Claire deeply appreciates good design and planting, especially for the atmosphere it creates.  Gardens are seen as living works of art and their ephemerality is what compelled her to start documenting them from the moment she photographed her first garden, Cloudehill, by Jeremy Francis in Olinda, Australia. 

This is a dream job for Claire, who from a young age, knew only that she wanted to work outdoors. To be creative in moments of quiet, while connected to nature and it's ever changing seasons, as well as travel the world and meet amazing, talented people, is a great privilege, as is to share all of this beauty and inspiration with others.

Claire's work has been widely published over the past fifteen years in magazines and she is a regular contributor to Gardens Illustrated. She won the Inaugural International Garden Photographer of the Year Award in 2008 for her snow filled scene of a couple crossing a bridge in Kenrokuen, Japan.  She has contributed to many books, and her first solo title, Dreamscapes, chronicling 70 of her favourite gardens, was published by Hardie Grant in October 2017. Australian Dreamscapes, followed in Nov 2018.  Windcliff, A Story of People, Plants, and Gardens by Dan Hinkley, was published in Sept 2020 by Timber Press. Wild: The Naturalistic Garden, by Noel Kingsbury published Feb 2022 by Phaidon Press. 

Working internationally, she divides her time between Australia, Europe and the US. She is currently based in Australia, but planning to have a big year of travel in 2022, shooting for a new book. Please feel free to contact her with any queries re possible projects, licensing of images or prints. 

Above pic: Zen Design, NH, USA