Untitled (flower) 1920 - 1924

Jaromír Funke made this photograph, Untitled (flower), at an unknown date with gelatin silver print. It has the hue of a memory, sepia-toned. I wonder what Funke was thinking when he captured this moment. The flower sits in a makeshift pot, maybe an offcut from the column next to it, all in subtle dialogue. The flower is trying to reach for light that’s being blocked out by the column. Was he thinking about how something grows in the face of adversity? Or how architecture and nature can be in conversation? There's something about the soft focus, the gentle blurring of edges, that gives it an ethereal quality. Painters like Georgia O’Keeffe and photographers like Funke share an interest in the organic form of the flower, and the way light and shade can define its shape. Each medium offering a unique perspective, each artist in conversation with the other across time. Funke's photograph reminds me that art, in any form, is a constant exchange of ideas, each artist inspiring the next.