Karl Blossfeldt: Variations

How Karl Blossfeldt’s plant photographs were disseminated in the popular media of the time, from pattern books to magazine spreads

In the 1890s, the Berlin artist, sculptor and teacher Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) started to photograph plants, seeds and other illustrative material from nature for the purpose of teaching his students about the patterns and designs found in natural forms. His close-ups of the smallest plant parts, magnified up to 30 times their natural size, startle us as they ...