Karl Blossfeldt: The Alphabet of Plants (Masters of the Camera) [Hardcover]

Gert Mattenklott (Author), Jurgen Wild (Editor), Karl Blossfeldt (Photographer)

Book Description

Series: Masters of the Camera | Publication Date: October 1998

Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) was neither a professional photographer nor a natural scientist. He was a sculptor, amateur photographer, and a professor at Berlin's school of arts and crafts where he taught modeling. His interest in the plant world was of an artistic and didactic nature: he was fascinated by the structure of plants, their organic configuration, and their "lofty artistic form" born "of expediency," which he wanted to illustrate and compare in a photographic style that could be described as strictly objective, almost graphic. His goal was to create a catalogue of forms for the benefit of artists, artisans, and, above all, architects, providing them with a book of instruction and models to guide them in their designs.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karl Blossfeldt, born in Schielo, Germany, in 1865, studied painting and sculpture in Berlin. From 1898 until his death in 1932 he taught at the Kunstgewerbliche Lehranstalt in Berlin.

Gert Mattenklott, born in Oranienburg, Germany, in 1942, is Dean of Philosophy and Humanities at the Freie Universitat, Berlin. He is an internationally acclaimed essayist, literary scholar, and critic.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Te Neues Pub. (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3823803646
• ISBN-13: 978-3823803645
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,272,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Archetypes Of Form And Structure, April 2, 2002

By 

Dr Lawrence Hauser (NYC, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Karl Blossfeldt: The Alphabet of Plants (Masters of the Camera) (Hardcover)

Form is highly mimetic in nature. A limited number of what might be called prototypical patterns find their way into an infinite number of fomal structures. For example, it is apparent upon close inspection that branching patterns of trees (best seen in winter, of course) eerily resemble arterial branching patterns of the heart as revealed by cardiologic angiography. Despite divergent functionality of the two systems, the formal architecture is almost identical! This is no accident of nature, to be sure. Karl Blossfeldt: The Alphabet Of Plants is a survey of some basic forms in nature. Its premise, as articulated in an introductory essay by Gert Mattenklott, is that "the architectonics of the modern age are built upon archaic, elemental forces. The rationally calculated workings of machines is in secret correspondence with the eternal rythym of life, and the plant serves as the model." Thus a careful, aesthetically mindful examination of the plant world is important in the first instance because it has the power to inform and expand our perceptual vocabulary. And, following on from that, to enhance our capacity for developing efficient, durable industry and for creating visually resonant art and architecture. Indeed, Blossfeldt was a sculptor by training and so the primacy and importance of form in his photography need hardly surprise us. What does surprise, however, in this eye-opening series of high contrast, texturally detailed duotone photographs (created some seventy to eighty years ago) of mostly quite unusual plant morphology, is the obvious correspondence of the geometry of plant life to so many of the constituitive and ornamental forms that make up the physical manifestations of modernity. There are only a limited number of (archetypal) patterns to be made use of, it seems, and their inventory is definable.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, January 2, 2008

By 

Athenasculptress "Athenasculptress" (Mountains) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Karl Blossfeldt: The Alphabet of Plants (Paperback)

The photographs in this book of nature will inspire any artist or crafts person...or architect. The work provides inspiration when it can't be found in the field or back yard. Its a book that is pleasurable to leaf through.