Seeing as it’s Apple Day today, there seems like no better time to point you in the direction of ‘Some Interesting Apples’, a new photographic project by William Arnold.
L-R Row 1: Ben’s Red, Cornish Gillyflower, Cornish Aromatic, Cornish Longstem
Row 2: Cornish Mother, Cornish Pine, Kestle Barton No.1 (feral), Longkeeper
Row 3: Manaccan Primrose, Kestle Barton No.2 (feral), Pear Apple, Dufflin
Row 4: Pig’s Snout, Polly Whitehair, Box Apple, Snell’s Glass Apple
Row 5: Tommy Knight, Sawpit (?), Frenchman’s Creek No.1 (feral) Collogett Pippin
The artist explains: “I have been interested in apples for a long time, particularly feral trees, as an apple grown from seed of an open pollinated fruit will, while inheriting the characteristics of its parents, always create a variety distinct from either. As you probably know, to propagate known varieties the new tree must be grafted from existing material of the variety. There is therefore this incredible gene pool of apples adapting to local conditions in hedgerows across the country. A lot of these will be crap and many of course will be seedlings of Golden Delicious or Gala etc, but some will have desirable characteristics, in terms of flavour and resistance to diseases and the vagaries of climate.
This biodivesity is important and worth documenting. I have begun by photographing known heirloom varieties in notable local orchards, at Kestle Barton and Trelissick, so there is a Cornish, or southwest flavour to the varieties. It’s a classic subject for a photographic typology!
The project is in its infancy but expect an apple or so a day on https://www.instagram.com/someinterestingapples/ for the next few months.”
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William Arnold on Caught by the River/William’s website.