Karl Blosfeldt

Karl Blossfeldt was born on 13 June 1865 in Schielo, near the Harz Mountains (present-day Germany). He began his career as a sculptor before extending his artistic horizons to other pursuits. In 1881, Blossfeldt began an apprenticeship, when he was 16 years old, training as an iron caster at the Art Ironworks and Foundry in Mägdesprung Germany. After spending three years as an apprentice, Blossfeldt transitioned to studying illustration at Kunstgewerbemuseum's education department in Berlin. During this time, Blossfeldt received a scholarship opportunity to study under Moritz Meurer. He began working for Moritz Meurer, a decorative artist and professor of ornament and design, in 1890. He traveled, along with other assistants, around Europe and North Africa photographing botanical specimens for Moritz Meurer to use as reference photos for his artwork. It was while studying under Moritz Meurer that Blossfeldt began his initial experimentation with the field of photography. Blossfeldt continued working for Moritz Meurer until 1896. After working for Meurer, Blossfeldt began his teaching career in 1898 when he was appointed for a teaching post at the Institute of Royal Arts Museum. Blossfeldt was eventually appointed a fulltime position at Kunstgewerbeschule in 1899 where he taught "Modeling from Plants" for 31 years. Among his contacts at the Berlin Arts and Crafts School was Heinz Warneke.

• Illustration — Urformen der Kunst, p. 10 Blossfeldt’s photography career began when he was photographing botanical specimens for Moritz Meurer. Blossfeldt later continued to develop his skill set, and his collection of photographs, while he was working as a professor. The photographs he took for Moritz Meurer and during his teaching years were used as reference photographs for his personal work and for his teaching purposes. He kept a detailed log of the common and scientific names of every specimen that he photographed, and eventually produced roughly 6,000 photographs. It wasn't until Blossfeldt was in his 60s that his photographs began to receive recognition for their artistic value, as opposed to their functionality as references. This recognition began in 1925 when art gallerist Karl Neirendorf first began representing Blossfeldt. With the help of Niernedorf, Blossfeldt's first monograph Urformen der Kunst was published in 1928. Urformen der Kunst gained overnight success and recognition. This segued into Blossfedlt's rise in fame that eventually lead to his second publication Wundergarten der Natur. Blossfeldt would also have a third collection of unreleased images posthumously collated and released in 1942 titled Wunder in der Natur. Despite Blossfeldt's lack of professional training his work as a photographer, photography is what he is best known for.

He died in Berlin aged 67 on 9 December 1932.

• Fotografie der Gegenwart, 1929 • Film und Foto, 1929

• Illustration — Aspidium Filix Mas (Shield Fern) Blossfeldt's photographs gained popularity due to his unique artistic style, which set him apart from other notable photographers at the time. Blossfeldt's focused and magnified photos were in stark contrast to the purposefully blurry images most photographers were producing at the time. There were many characteristics of Blossfeldt's photographs that made them easily distinguishable; one being Blossfeldt's use of nature as his subject. Blossfeldt spent large amounts of time in nature in his youth which was a large source of inspiration. Blossfeldt held a deep appreciation for the scientific accuracy of his photographs as well as for nature so he rarely altered his natural subjects. He stated that "The plant must be valued as a totally artistic and architectural structure." Blossfeldt also maintained a detailed log of both the common and Latin names of his plant subjects. He focused on the naturally reoccurring geometric structures found in his natural subjects. Blossfeldt's emphasis on geometric patterns in nature can be linked back to the beginning of his career, and formal training, as a sculptor. His time spent as an iron craftsman led to his appreciation for patterns that resemble those he worked with during that time. • Illustration — Margined Pyramidal Saxifrage (Saxifraga Aizoon)