Featured Photographer & Writer: Ingrid Henningsson from Of Spring and Summer Blog

If you, like us, love flowers and go around flea markets in search of vintage treasuries, if you like extraordinary and fascinating combinations of colors and objects, then you have surely noticed Of Spring and Summer Blog. Today we have the pleasure of interviewing Ingrid Henningsson, the author of the blog who creates and photographs sophisticated and spectacular sceneries of flowers,  mixed with vintage. The Swedish London-based creative combines with skill and attention to detail, her innate Scandinavian taste with the typically English richness of colours and patterns. We learned that in addition to creating great photos, styling and blog editing, Ingrid is a multifaceted creative, trained garden designer and connoisseur of vintage items.Enjoy the interview with her and learn more about her taste and favorite flowers. Also enjoy the beautiful colours of her romantic photographs.

Copyright Ingrid Henningsson 

Tell us about yourself.

I have been writing the blog Of Spring and Summer for three years and it is a place where I can share and inspire with my flower arrangements, my passion for colour, photography and my love of vintage. 

My creative path started with ceramics followed by textiles and then art school where I did painting and collage. I went on to do three years of training in garden design and horticulture at The English Gardening School in London, where I then lectured for many years in botanical nomenclature and horticulture and supervised the student's Plant Portfolios. I have worked as a horticultural researcher for the BBC at the Chelsea Flower Show and as a horticultural consultant on a TV quiz show.

I have also worked as a researcher for Gardeners World presenter Rachel de Thame on her book Top 100 Star Plants and have contributed writing and book reviews to gardening journals. 

Over the years I have studied flower and plant photography with Heather Angel and Clive Nichols, done photography courses at Central St. Martins Art School in London and completed an Open University course in Digital Photography. 

For many years I ran a small successful business buying and selling vintage articles. As a result I have an extensive collection of props made up of antiques, vintage, retro, reclamation items and garden antiques. 

I have taken numerous flower arranging classes with top London florists Paula Pryke and the late Jane Packer as well as workshops at Petershams Nurseries and some great flower arranging classes with the gardener and writer Sarah Raven. 

What inspires you? 

Inspiration is all around - we just have to focus and look for it. Using a camera is very useful as it forces you to literarily ‘focus’. 

When visiting flower markets I find it impossible not to be inspired. Using flowers that are available seasonally is an important starting point. The colour of the flowers often dictates the colour theme, but I often play with contrasting and unusual colour combinations. 

Other inspiration also comes from the huge collection of props that I use in my styling, as a big part of what I do is combining flowers with vintage. 

Sometimes my Scandinavian minimalistic design sensibility takes over and sometimes it’s more of a cluttered granny chic look. 

I am a great lover of books and magazines and I have a large collection covering all of my interest in gardening design & plants, interior design, photography and flower arranging. 

Visiting flea markets and vintage fairs has become part of what I do; recycling old and used things are great for the wallet and good for the environment. 

The internet is also a source for even more inspiration - not only blogs but also Flickr. I read a long list of blogs every day and I am always amazed how many talented people there are out there. Lately I have become a big fan of food blogs and many food bloggers are also fantastic photographers. 

Copyright Ingrid Henningsson 

Where does your love and passion for flowers come from? 

My passion for flowers and plants goes back to my childhood. As a little girl in Sweden I used to spend the summers gardening with my father. He grew lots of different things and was a very knowledgeable gardener. We dug the beds, sowed seeds, planted, weeded and of course picked lots of strawberries and I still have some of the old tools that we used.

All around the house were large wild areas and big fields with wild flowers where I loved getting lost and picking bouquets that I later arranged in rows of jam jars. My favourites back then were forget-me-nots and bluebells.

What is your favourite flower and what is your favourite flower arrangement?

My favourite flowers, constantly change as each season has its own delights from winter snowdrops to autumn dahlias.

Branches with cherry blossoms or crab apples, cornflowers, wild poppies, forget-me-nots and lily-of the–valley are plants you can find in your garden or growing wild in a field are all very close to my heart.

My favourite arrangement is often something simple and slightly wild so that it looks like it is picked straight from the garden. Some of my favourites are hydrangeas, ranunculus, tulips, dahlias and peonies.

What are you working on at the moment?

I have just had an invitation from Getty Images who want to license a number of my photographs and I feel very honoured to be asked.

I am working on a series of photographs for the greeting card market and they will hopefully be published in the near future.

I am doing an online workshop called Branding Your Small Business with the very creative Fiona Humberstone and her team at Flourish.

Last August I started a Flickr group called Flowers & Vintage. It has become a great success and a great source of inspiration; there are over 3,000 images by many talented photographers that all love flowers.

In the meantime I continue to be creative with flowers, styling, taking photographs and of course writing my blog.

Iris, Copyright Ingrid Henningsson

 You might want to read Ingrid's blog, follow her on twitter and on flickr. Have a wonderful day!