Each month over the last few years, we’ve shared a great piece of garden-related art.  All through 2022 we’re looking at Blossfeldt plant photos.  For March, we’re sharing his image of a cephalaria (giant scabious) seed head.  If you’ve been reading our blog regularly, you’ll already know something about Blossfeldt.  We talked about his work in general in our January Blossfeldt post – do follow the link to read that if you haven’t already.

However, all you really need to know is that he was a German sculptor and art teacher.  He worked during the early part of the twentieth century.  He made these incredible close-up photographs of plant forms, at a magnification that nobody had seen before.  Amazingly, he didn’t intend them as anything other than teaching aids.  He wanted his students to see the sculptural possibilities in natural forms.  Despite his humble expectations, when his book of photographs were published in 1929, they became an overnight sensation.  From that point on, people all around the world admired Karl Blossfeldt plant photos.

In this particular photo, the cephalaria, or giant scabious, transforms into a beautiful sculptural form. The light and shade and the extreme magnification create something that looks almost as though it could be carved from wood.  The flower Blossfeldt is working from takes on a new existence in his photograph and becomes art as well as nature.

If you look closely at the plants in your garden you too can see the tiny details you miss at first glance.  And we’ll share another Karl Blossfeldt plant photo next month so you can see more of this great photographer’s work.