Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase through one of the affiliate links, I will get a very small commission or referral fee at no additional cost to you. You can read more on my affiliate policy page.
Long before Instagram was cool …
Long before the pound key got the shiny new “hashtag” nickname …
Long before the advent of digital cameras and macro lenses …
Long before any of these things … there was Karl Blossfeldt.
Let’s just call him Karl.
Karl was a German photographer with a repertoire of mesmerizing pictures of plants. He originally trained as a sculptor and iron caster, but later went on to teach art at United State School for Fine and Applied Art in Berlin.
Despite the fact that Karl Blossfeldt didn’t have a formal training as a photographer, his seminal work, Urformen der Kunst (Art Forms in Nature), published in 1928, remains one of the most important books of photography to come out of the 20th century.
Karl took his photos of flowers, foliage and seeds on a homemade camera which he designed and built himself. He believed that flora macrophotography could serve as an aid and inspiration to sculptors, architects and artists, by revealing the sculptural shapes of nature in its purest form.
The ragged yet fluid forms against a muted neutral background are part botanical study, part design study and part mindfulness study, focusing on what it means to pay attention to the world around us.
You can browse hundreds of photographs by Karl Blossfeldt through the online archives provided by Die Pinakotheken (Munich) and Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam).
If you’re looking for beautiful prints of Karl Blossfeldt’s work, here are three books that will satisfy your curiosity:
Karl Blossfeldt: Masterworks – published by D.A.P.
Karl Blossfeldt: The Complete Published Work – published by Taschen
Karl Blossfeldt: Art Forms in the Plant World – Dover Publications (1986, so you may not always find copies in circulation)
Coriandrum sativum – Karl Blossfeldt (Die Pinakotheken Munich)
Ptelea trifoliata – Karl Blossfeldt (Die Pinakotheken Munich)
Allium ostrowskianum – Karl Blossfeldt (Die Pinakotheken Munich)
Astrantia major – Karl Blossfeldt (Die Pinakotheken, Munich)
Celosia argentea var cristata – Karl Blossfeldt (Die Pinakotheken, Munich)
Echinops sphaerocephalus – Karl Blossfeldt (Die Pinakotheken, Munich)
Euphorbia pithyusa – Karl Blossfeldt (Die Pinakotheken, Munich)
Silaus pratensis – Karl Blossfeldt (Die Pinakotheken, Munich)
Phacelia congesta – Karl Blossfeldt (Die Pinakotheken, Munich)
Books about plants
