Author(s): Gert Mattenklott

Art

Karl Blossfeldt first published his plant photographs in 1928, achieving overnight fame. His images influenced artists of the time and continue to affect the work of visual artists, craftsmen, and architects to the present day. A pioneer of Neue Sachlichkeit, his pictures are classics in the history of photography. Neither a trained photographer nor a botanist, Blossfeldt was interested in plants for didactic reasons. By enlarging the inner structures of plants he revealed their organic configuration and their consummate artistic forms that arose from biological necessity. Blossfeldt's aim was to produce a pure catalogue of forms, and yet he created one of the most stunning oeuvres in the history of photography. Gert Mattenklott in his essay explores the origin of Blossfeldt's work and its subsequent influence. Georges Bataille's historical article "The Language of Flower," first published in 1929 with illustrations by Blossfeldt, defines plants as occupying a space between profanity and sanctity.