By Ellie Broadhurst

Born on the 13th June 1865.

Died on 9th December 1932 at the age of 67.
He was a German photographer, sculptor,
teacher and artist who worked in Berlin,
Germany.
He is best known for his close-up photographs
of plants and living things, published in 1929
as Urformen der Kunst.
He believed that 'the plant must be valued as a
totally artistic and architectural structure.'

He made many of his photos on a

home made camera that could
magnify the photo up to 30 times.
This revealed plants natural
structure.
His work was only discovered a few
years before he died.

I like this piece of photography but its

not my favourite. I think its a bit dull
and hasnt got much texture to it. It
creates a depressing feeling as its dull
and doesnt have any shadowing. It is
a nice photo though as you can see a
lot of detail and shape of the petals
and bud of the flower. The photo is
symmetrical so it creates a feeling of
calmness.

I prefer this photo to the one on the

left. I like it because it has a lot of
visible texture and has more shadow
on the plant. It is still a dull photo
but it creates a different atmosphere
because there are more smaller
details to look at which creates a
bigger texture on the full image. This
photo is yet again symmetrical so it
makes me feel calm and relaxed.
This photo reminds me of the desert,
its alone and deserted and there is
nothing else around, just an empty
space.

I like this photo because it creates

a raw, peaceful feeling. The
object has been sharpened which
makes is stand out more and
have a more rough affect, the
background has been blurred so
your eye gets drawn to the
sharpened object and not the
background.

I think this photo is simple yet effective. I like the way

the flower has been blurred and looks really bold against
the white background. The little stem coming off the
flower is sharper as well so it shows that it is more petite
and breakable. The flower has different tones of grey on
it which makes the leaf have a more bold outline. You
can also see the lines on the leaf which makes me think
that the texture looks quite soft yet bumpy. Overall I like
this image because it is spread out over the whole canvas
but isnt too big or too small.

He spent his childhood in the Harz Mountains of

central Germany.
He had a life long devotion to the study of nature.
Blossfeldt's first marriage to Maria Plank in 1898 ended
in divorce after 12 years. He eventually married again
to opera singer Helene Eminem in 1912
Blossfeldt taught art and sculpture at he same school
he studied at, the Institute of Royal Arts and Museum,
located in Berlin. He remained there until 1930
Blossfeldt never received formal photography training.
Used a homemade camera to take photos.
Blossfeldt was 63 years old when his first book of
photographic images, "Urformen der Kunst" was
published

Blossfeldt passed away on December 9, 1932, as

a result of a scrotal tumor, which had already
spread to his spine causing paralysis.
His first book contained 120 of his original
photographs and was released following an
exhibition of his work at Berlin's Gallery
Nierendorf.
. His second book, "Wundergarten der Natur"
was published in 1932.