Karl Blossfeldt
Karl Blossfeldt (13 June 1865Template:Spnd9 December 1932) was a German photographer and sculptor.<ref name=EB>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is best known for his close-up photographs of plants and living things, published in 1929 as Urformen der Kunst.<ref>Blossfeldt, Karl, Urformen Der Kunst: Photographische Pflanzenbilder, Verlag Ernst Wasmuth A.G. Berlin, 1929</ref> He was inspired, as was his father, by nature and the ways in which plants grow.
BiographyEdit
Early life and careerEdit
Karl Blossfeldt was born on 13 June 1865 in Schielo, near the Harz Mountains (present-day Germany).<ref name=":11">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He began his career as a sculptor before extending his artistic horizons to other pursuits.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1881, Blossfeldt began an apprenticeship, when he was 16 years old, training as an iron caster at the Art Ironworks and Foundry in Mägdesprung Germany.<ref name="EB" /><ref name=":1" />
After spending three years as an apprentice, Blossfeldt transitioned to studying illustration at Kunstgewerbemuseum's education department in Berlin.<ref name=":11" /> During this time, Blossfeldt received a scholarship opportunity to study under Moritz Meurer.<ref name="EB" /><ref name=":1" /> He began working for Moritz Meurer, a decorative artist and professor of ornament and design, in 1890.<ref name=":134">Template:Cite journal</ref> He traveled, along with other assistants, around Europe and North Africa photographing botanical specimens for Moritz Meurer to use as reference photos for his artwork.<ref name=":122">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was while studying under Moritz Meurer that Blossfeldt began his initial experimentation with the field of photography.<ref name=":102">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Blossfeldt continued working for Moritz Meurer until 1896.<ref name="EB" /><ref name=":11" />
After working for Meurer, Blossfeldt began his teaching career in 1898 when he was appointed for a teaching post at the Institute of Royal Arts Museum.<ref name=":102" /> Blossfeldt was eventually appointed a fulltime position at Kunstgewerbeschule in 1899 where he taught “Modeling from Plants” for 31 years.<ref name=":11" /> Among his contacts at the Berlin Arts and Crafts School was Heinz Warneke.<ref>Cunningham, Mary Mullen, Heinz Warneke (1895–1983): A Sculptor First and Last, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 1994 p. 22</ref>
Photography careerEdit
Blossfeldt’s photography career began when he was photographing botanical specimens for Moritz Meurer.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref> Blossfeldt later continued to develop his skillset, and his collection of photographs, while he was working as a professor.<ref name=":52">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The photographs he took for Moritz Meurer and during his teaching years were used as reference photographs for his personal work and for his teaching purposes.<ref name=":1" /> He kept a detailed log of the common and scientific names of every specimen that he photographed, and eventually produced roughly 6,000 photographs.<ref name=":72">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":62">Template:Cite news</ref>
It wasn't until Blossfeldt was in his 60s that his photographs began to receive recognition for their artistic value, as opposed to their functionality as references.<ref name=":72" /> This recognition began in 1925 when art gallerist Karl Neirendorf first began representing Blossfeldt.<ref name=":11" /> With the help of Niernedorf, Blossfeldt's first monograph Urformen der Kunst was published in 1928.<ref name=":1" /> Urformen der Kunst gained overnight success and recognition.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite news</ref> This segued into Blossfedlt's rise in fame that eventually lead to his second publication Wundergarten der Natur.<ref name=":122" /> Despite Blossfeldt's lack of professional training his work as a photographer, photography is what he is best known for.<ref name=":1" />
DeathEdit
He died in Berlin aged 67 on 9 December 1932.
Photography technique and styleEdit
Key features and inspiration sourcesEdit
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Blossfeldt's photographs gained popularity due to his unique artistic style, which set him apart from other notable photographers at the time.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> Blossfeldt's focused and magnified photos were in stark contrast to the purposefully blurry images most photographers were producing at the time.<ref name=":3" /> There were many characteristics of Blossfeldt's photographs that made them easily distinguishable; one being Blossfeldt's use of nature as his subject.<ref name=":62" /> Blossfeldt spent large amounts of time in nature in his youth which was a large source of inspiration.<ref name=":72" /> Blossfeldt held a deep appreciation for the scientific accuracy of his photographs as well as for nature so he rarely altered his natural subjects.<ref name=":8" /> He stated that “The plant must be valued as a totally artistic and architectural structure.”<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":9">Template:Cite news</ref> Blossfeldt also maintained a detailed log of both the common and Latin names of his plant subjects.<ref name=":8" />
He focused on the naturally reoccurring geometric structures found in his natural subjects.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /> Blossfeldt's emphasis on geometric patterns in nature can be linked back to the beginning of his career, and formal training, as a sculptor.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":72" /> His time spent as an iron craftsman led to his appreciation for patterns that resemble those he worked with during that time.<ref name=":4" />
Artistic techniqueEdit
While Blossfeldt's choice in subject and style was in part an artistic decision, it was also due to the functionality of his work as reference photos for other artists and students, which ultimately greatly influenced his technique.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":72" /> To capture effective reference photos, Blossfeldt needed to ensure that the subjects themselves were as clear and focused as possible.<ref name="EB" /> To aid in achieving this goal, Blossfeldt utilized solid color, grey or white, backgrounds to provide contrast which highlighted the patterns and symmetry of the plants that Blossfeldt was aiming to capture.<ref name=":8" /> In order to capture the intricate detail of his plant subjects, Blossfeldt developed a series of home-made camera lenses that allowed him to magnify his plant subjects by thirty times, producing unprecedented detail.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":62" /> This technique reflected his enduring interest in the repetitive patterns found in nature's textures and forms.<ref name="EB" />
LegacyEdit
Lasting influenceEdit
Blossfeldt inspired many other photographers, such as Bernd and Hilla Becher, whose photographs of industrial architecture drew inspiration from Blossfeldt's snapshots of nature's geometrical features.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> His pictures attracted wider attention through the support of gallerist Karl Nierendorf, who sponsored a show of Blossfeldt's pictures paired with African sculptures at his gallery in 1926.<ref name=":102" /> Nierendorf also helped to produce the first edition of Blossdeldt's monograph Urformen der Kunst (Art forms in nature), in 1929.<ref name=":1" /> The publication of his working collages in 2001 threw into question the legitimacy of his association with New Objectivity, as his methods were shown to differ from those of other artists in the movement.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> With this said, Karl Blossfeldt continues to be regarded as a pioneer of close-up photography who received great praise from many notable figures in the art world.<ref name=":62" /><ref name=":2" />
Karl Blossfeldt is regarded as a pioneer of close-up photography who received great praise from many notable figures in the art world.<ref name=":62" /> Swiftly regarded as a seminal book on photography, Blossfeldt's objective and finely detailed imagery was praised by Walter Benjamin, who declared that Blossfeldt "has played his part in that great examination of the inventory of perception, which will have an unforeseeable effect on our conception of the world".<ref name=":2" /> Benjamin compared Blossfeldt to Moholy-Nagy and the pioneers of New Objectivity. He also ranked Blossfeldts achievements alongside the great photographers August Sander and Eugène Atget. The Surrealists also championed him, and Georges Bataille included his images in the periodical Documents in 1929.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Blossfeldt continues to receive praise, even after his death, with his 2001 Urformen der Kunst included in "The Book of 101 Books" as one of the seminal photographic books of the twentieth century.<ref name=":0" />
WorksEdit
PublicationsEdit
- Urformen der Kunst (Art Forms in Nature), 1928<ref name=":52" />
- Wundergarten der Natur (The magic garden of nature), 1932<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Exhibition featuresEdit
- Fotografie der Gegenwart, 1929<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Film und Foto, 1929<ref name=":1" />