Plantstudie 1928

This silver gelatin print is a Plant Study by Karl Blossfeldt. What I love about this image is the simplicity of the shapes and the texture of the plant stems against a light background. I can imagine Blossfeldt in his studio, carefully arranging these plant parts. The cropping is so interesting to me: these curving stems are like pieces of the artist’s mind—offcuts, studies, like a painter's palette of visual ideas! I imagine him arranging the plant parts, tilting, shifting, until he found the perfect composition. Blossfeldt's work reminds me of other photographers and artists who have been drawn to the beauty and strangeness of the natural world, like Imogen Cunningham and Georgia O'Keefe. Artists are constantly looking at each other’s work, and this is part of an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas through time.