Karl
Blossfeldt was a
photographer in fin-de-siécle
Berlin. Blossfeldt’s
photographs are devoted
entirely to plant
features: leaves, buds,
seed pods, tendrils and
twigs; drawing focus
from their sinuous forms.
In 1899, Blossfeldt
began teaching design at
the School of Decorative
Arts in Berlin.
Blossfeldt would
meticulously arrange his
specimens against stark
backgrounds and magnify
them in the studio,
before using them as
models to teach drawing
to his design students.
In 1928, the
popularity of the
publication ‘Urformen
der Kunst’ containing
Blossfeldt’s photographs
confirmed his status
throughout the Western
world.
