Photographer of the Week:Karl Blossfeldt

Today is the first day of 'blog week' so I've decided to start it off by writing a post about a photographer who I've always loved but have been particularly inspired by recently and that is Karl Blossfeldt.

Karl was a German photographer well known for his simplistic yet highly detailed photographs of various plant life. He photographed the intricate details of buds, pods, twigs, tendrils, seeds and many other plant components, developing his own unique style in the process. He would shoot these subjects against stark backgrounds, arranging them as he pleased, to amplify the amazing designs naturally displayed within the plants. He enjoyed capturing their natural beauty along with their repetitive designs and wonderful textures.

I think his work is so impressive because he never intended for it to be seen as art, he worked as a teacher so he would shoot these subjects for educational purposes only, to use as learning aids for his students. He never received any formal training in photography, he was completely self-taught.

http://www.karlblossfeldtphotos.com/photos_details.asp?id=14&Photo_ID=103

There are so many interesting pictures of his that can be found in his book, 'Karl Blossfeldt' by Hans Christian Adams. This shot on the left is one that I find particularly interesting. I love the way he has captured the passion flower so simply whilst managing to capture all of it's beauty. I love the high contrast and tonal variety he has managed to capture, something which I've noticed is quite a strong theme throughout his work. His work is also very grainy, something that was probably as a result of shooting on film. However I think this also adds a very nice quality to the image, it gives it a very artistic feel, making it appear to look like a piece of artwork, more like a sketch rather than a photograph. 

I've been very inspired by his work as I tend to take a more colourful approach with my flower photography so I am planning on doing a shoot soon inspired by his work to focus more on photographing plants in black and white, stay tuned for that in the near future some time.