Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Richmond upon Thames in southwest London is a huge botanical site that is supported by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Kew is an internationally renowned research centre and both parts—the botanic gardens at Kew and Wakehurst Place, a property of National Trust based in Sussex—host huge collections of millions of living plants and seeds.

Despite being a scientific research centre, Kew is open to the public and millions of visitors each year have made it one of the most popular attractions in London for both tourists and locals alike.

A visit to Kew Royal Botanic Gardens requires time. The garden area is huge and not only consists of open-air areas but also includes a number of buildings such as green houses and cafes and shops, both open to the public, of course.

I chose to visit Kew Gardens on a week day, mainly to avoid the big crowd on the weekend. However, with the amount of visitors per year in mind it came to no surprise that even during a week day and despite the drizzly and windy weather on that particular day there were far too many people enjoying the gardens for my taste.

As a photographer I have a mixed relationship to people wandering around me while I am at work. On one hand it’s this kind of people who are interested in culture and self-education and visit places such as Kew Gardens that  every photographer is aiming their work at. On the other hand most photographers I know of who work in this field of photography—and that definitely includes me—are more of the introvert kind. Too many people around us while we’re at work does not usually add to our excitement.

However, despite the incredible amount of visitors that day—in fact I’d never seen so many school kids in one single place before—I enjoyed my day tremendously and managed to get a good overview of what Kew Gardens have to offer. I have started working on new ideas for future projects in which Kew Gardens will play a vital part!