Tak Ribes Sanguineum tegen egale achtergrond c. 1900 - 1940

This photograph of Ribes Sanguineum against a flat background was made by Richard Tepe. The muted palette makes me think of the tonalist painters, where the goal is not to depict something ‘as it is’, but to capture a specific atmosphere, or evoke a particular feeling. Looking closely, you can see the way Tepe has used light and shadow to define the leaves and flowers. It's subtle, almost like he's painting with light, not just recording what's there. In the lower part of the image, the gentle gradation on the backdrop emphasizes the three-dimensionality of the plant against the two-dimensional picture plane. This image feels particularly connected to Karl Blossfeldt’s work, where scientific objectivity meets sheer beauty. Both artists use photography to uncover the hidden geometry in nature, showing us that art and science aren’t so different after all. It's about seeing, really seeing, the world around us and finding the art that's already there.