Karl Blossfeldt was a renowned German photographer, artist, and sculptor born in Schielo, Harz Mountains Germany in 1865. He is best known for his extraordinary close-up photographs of plants and living things that appeared as Urformen der Kunst (Art Forms in Nature) in 1929.
Blossfeldt developed an interest in nature early on and studied it intensely during his time at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Berlin, where he completed his apprenticeship as a sculptor. After his studies, he became one of the leading photographers of Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), a modernist movement that emerged after World War I in German literature and arts.
Blossfeldt’s photography collection began growing when he started photographing botanical specimens for Moritz Meurer. While working as a professor, Karl made detailed portraits of flowers, plants, and other organisms from both artistic and scientific perspectives through macro photography techniques. The outcome was stunning images revealing the intricate details of plants’ structures at the same level that they exist in nature.
Blossfeldt’s works can be found at museums such as Musée d’Orsay located in Paris France; The Museum of Modern Art situated New York City, USA; National Gallery of Art based Washington D.C., among others. Blossfeldt passed away on December 9th 1932 but his works continue to inspire young artists all over the world centuries later.