Overview
Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) was a great pioneer of botanical photography, yet he was neither a professional photographer nor a botanist. A professor at the Academy of Applied Arts in Berlin, he was a sculptor and amateur photographer, and his interest in the plant world was originally educational. Fascinated by the structure of plants, whose apparently artistic forms were created by biological expediency, he realized that photography could be a useful teaching tool, allowing his students to see and compare many natural forms. Blossfeldt worked with a homemade camera and gathered and photographed his own plant samples, magnifying them by up to 45 times. From around 1898 onwards, he shot some 6,000 images, which he used primarily as visual aids in his classes. Eventually published as Art Forms in Nature (1928) and Art Forms in Nature, Second Series (1932), his photographs had a lasting impact on the art of his day and were enthusiastically embraced by both the Surrealists and the New Objectivity movement. His books brought him overnight fame and are still considered landmarks in the history of art and photography. This volume brings together a remarkable collection of Blossfeldt's strikingly austere yet poetic portraits of plants, capturing their timeless beauty in intimate detail.
Full Product Details
Author: Hansjörg Küster ,
Ann Wilde ,
Jürgen Wilde
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Imprint: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Dimensions:
Width: 23.50cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 36.50cm
Weight: 1.610kg
ISBN: 9780500544754
ISBN 10: 0500544751
Pages: 160
Publication Date: 02 March 2017
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
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Reviews
'Sure to inspire fans of botany and photography alike' - BBC Earth 'Through Blossfeldt's lens, intricate and delicate natural structures take on a powerful and almost metallic quality: the familiar is seen afresh' - RPS Journal
'Through Blossfeldt's lens, intricate and delicate natural structures take on a powerful and almost metallic quality: the familiar is seen afresh' - RPS Journal 'Sure to inspire fans of botany and photography alike' - BBC Earth
'Sure to inspire fans of botany and photography alike' - BBC Earth 'Through Blossfeldt’s lens, intricate and delicate natural structures take on a powerful and almost metallic quality: the familiar is seen afresh' - RPS Journal
Author Information
Hansjörg Küster is professor of plant ecology at the Institute of Geobotany, Leibniz University of Hanover. Ann Wilde are collectors and founders of the Karl Blossfeldt Archive.
