These images were created by Blossfeldt for his students and their study of botany, yet they are done with such attention to natural form and cycles, and with such tenacity that they transcend the world of scientific documentation (no impassive Becher here) and enter a realm of awe and marvel. I cannot help but compare them to
Robert Mapplethorpe's overly aesthetic and sexualized lilies (and who can look at those anymore without a smirk?), and
Nobuyoshi Araki's lurid, paint besmirched blossoms. The comparison may be entirely unfair and inappropriate, given that the intention behind the works seem so different. But that said, Blossfeldt's plants are photographed not only in their blossoming prime, but also as buds, as wilted husks -- they present an acute awareness of the life cycle, with reproduction at its core. Perhaps the images are not so different after all.
Karl Blossfeldt
Plate # 31: Aconitum anthora (magnified 3 times)
Photogravure, printed in 1928.
Karl Blossfeldt
Plate # 27: Cajophora lateritia (magnified 5 times)
Photogravure, printed in 1928.
Karl Blossfeldt
Plate # 8: Equisetum hiemale (magnified 10 times)
Rhamnus Purshiana (magnified 25 times)
Equisetum hiemale (magnified 10 times)
Photogravure, printed in 1928.All poached from
this site.
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