How Karl Blossfeldt's photographs revealed plant forms

Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer and sculptor best known for his close-up photographs of plants and living things, published in 1929 as Urformen der Kunst.

2 articles, 1 book · about 11 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   Karl Blossfeldt's close-up plant photographs and why they changed how artists see plants · Wikipedia · 7 min read

   Karl Blossfeldt developed home-made camera lenses that magnified plant subjects by thirty times, producing unprecedented detail. His work as reference photos for other artists and students influenced his technique. In his close-up plant photographs, Karl Blossfeldt focused on naturally reoccurring geometric structures, revealing intricate detail in plant forms. He said, "The plant must be valued as a totally artistic and architectural structure." Blossfeldt's close-up plant photographs were praised by art critic Walter Benjamin, who said Blossfeldt "has played his part in that great examination of the inventory of perception, which will have an unforeseeable effect on our conception of the world". Benjamin compared Blossfeldt to Moholy-Nagy and the pioneers of New Objectivity.

2. Read
   

   Karl Blossfeldt's *Urformen der Kunst* (1928) · Public Domain Review · 4 min read

   Karl Blossfeldt's close-up plant photographs revealed details difficult to see with the naked eye. He intended them to portray diminutive forms on a convenient scale and encourage students to pay them more attention.

3. Book
   

   Karl Blossfeldt · Bookshop.org

   Karl Blossfeldt by Hans Christian Adam features highlights culled from the photo series title.

Book links are Bookshop.org affiliate links. Curiate may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you — Bookshop.org also gives a share to independent bookshops.