Isotria affinis- Small Whorled Pogonia 1931

This delicate photogravure of a Small Whorled Pogonia was made by Edwin Hale Lincoln, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. It's a plant portrait in monochrome, a quiet dance of light and shadow. I imagine Lincoln, hunched over his camera, coaxing these subtle tones from the metallic salts. It’s not just about capturing what’s there, but feeling the plant's essence, its quiet struggle to reach the sun. Look at the way the light catches the curve of the leaves, how the stem arches with a kind of tender vulnerability. It reminds me of those early botanical illustrations, where science and art were intertwined, driven by a genuine curiosity about the natural world. Lincoln probably spent hours in the field observing and documenting, maybe comparing his work to other botanical photographers, each trying to reveal the hidden language of plants through their images. Photography and printmaking are always in conversation. They are both images created with light, both ways of seeing.