Art in the great outdoors is coming to Kew Gardens from Saturday as the third annual International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) exhibition opens.

The specially designed show, featuring weather-proofed prints of the selected photographs, is to be installed outside Kew’s two main art galleries – the Marianne North Gallery and the Shirley Shewood Gallery of Botanical Art – and this al fresco exhibition promises to be a memorable one as it will include more than 100 inspirational garden and plant images from all over the world.

The managing director of IGPOTY, Philip Smith, is delighted with the response the competition received – there were more than 20,000 photographs sent in for judging from homegrown and international amateurs and professionals.

“What we are trying to communicate in this exhibition is that there is a huge amount of subject matter for photographers outside the backdoor and that any green space can provide lots of interesting subjects for photography,” he says.

“The great thing about garden photography is that it is very accessible – there are pictures taken from people’s window ledges and we have pictures of people’s allotments and of public gardens.”

There are seven categories, including garden views and people in the garden, with the winners of each catergory and the overall winner to be revealed at the exhibition’s opening on Saturday.

Smith admits that garden photography is a relatively new art form, but says the digital revolution has made it easier for people to take pictures of the natural world around them “We want people to move away from the snapshot and really consider the pictures they are taking,” he adds.

“Digital photography is more accessible than film photography and so there are far more people taking photographs and publishing them on the internet. We want people to take it to the next level so they can look at the subjects they like and then try and get the best out of them.”

A book to accompany the exhibition, International Garden Photographer of the Year Collection Three, is available to buy in Kew’s Victoria Plaza shop.

International Garden Photographer of the Year, Kew Gardens, May 1- September 26, visit igpoty.com