Blossfeldt (1865-1932) was
born in Germany. Early on he
was a sculptor's apprentice.
After studying painting and
sculpture on a scholarship at
the School of the Royal Museum
of Arts and Crafts in Berlin
from 1884 to 1891, he worked
in Italy, Greece, and North
Africa collecting plant
specimens.
From 1898 to 1931 he was a
professor in the sculpture of
living plants at the
Kunstgewerbemuseum (College of
Arts and Crafts) in Berlin.
In 1899, he began to
photograph plant forms with a
home made camera. Blossfeldt's
photographs were made with a
homemade camera that could
magnify the subject up to
thirty times its actual size.
By doing so he revealed
extraordinary details within
the natural structure of the
plants. In the process he
created some of the most
innovative photographic work
of his time. The simple yet
expressive forms captured on
film affirmed his boundless
ability. Indeed, his pictures
influenced many architects and
artists of his time, who used
Blossfeldt's forms on scales
as small as ornamental
ironwork and as large as the
shapes of entire buildings.
