Influenced by the 19th century German tradition of natural philosophy, Karl Blossfeldt believed that "the plant must be valued as a totally artistic and architectural structure." Combining training as a craftsman with an academic art education, Blossfeldt made thousands of enlargements of details of plant forms in an attempt to reveal the fundamental structures of the natural world and their relation to artistic form. Over a period of 30 years, he photographed leaves, seed pods, stems, and other plant parts, frontally or from above, against neutral white or grey backgrounds in weak daylight, much as though he were photographing architectural details. Karl Blossfeldt: Photographs
Karl Blossfeldt: Photographs