f o t o b i b l i o g r a f i c a

Karl Blossfeldt

Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) was a botanist and teacher in Berlin who practised a form of documentary still life photography, devoted entirely to plant forms. For over thirty years he made systematic photographic studies of plant details, revealing their sculptural and architectural beauty in slide enlargements. His spare style influenced the contemporary movement known as the Neue Sachlichkeit or New Objectivity; today many people appreciate his prints not only for their formal beauty but also for the element of the surreal that often seems to adhere to them.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Art Forms In Nature.
New York: E. Weyhe, 1929, 1932.
London: A. Zwemmer, 1929, 1967.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Wundergarten der Natur: Neue Bild-dokumente schöner pflanzenformen.
Berlin: Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 1932.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Introduction by Karl Nierendorf.
Urformen der Kunst. Photographische Pflanzenbilder.
Tübingen: Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, 1935, 1948.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Wunder in der Natur: Bild-Dokumente Schöner Pflanzenformen.
Berlin: Pantheon Verlag, 1942.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Edited by Klaus Honnef.
Karl Blossfeldt: Fotografien 1900-1932.
Cologne: Rheinland-Verlag, 1976.

Mattenklott, Gert, editor.
Karl Blossfeldt, 1865-1932: Das Fotografische Werk.
Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1981.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Introduction by Karl Nierendorf.
Art Forms in the Plant World.
NY: Dover, 1985.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Edited by Andreas Hüneke and Gerhard Ihrke.
Fotografien zwischen Natur und Kunst.
Leipzig: Fotokinoverlag, 1990.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Edited by Ann and Jürgen Wilde.
Karl Blossfeldt: Fotografie.
Ostfildern: Cantz, 1994.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Edited by Ann and Jürgen Wilde.
Text by Gert Mattenklott.
Karl Blossfeldt: Alphabet der Pflanzen.
Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1997.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Texts by Georges Bataille and Gert Mattenklott.
Art Forms in Nature: The Complete Edition.
Munich: Schirmer Art Books, 1999.

Blossfeldt, Karl.
Edited by Dieter Appelt and Carl Aiger.
Licht an der Grenze des Sichtbaren.
Munich: Schirmer Mosel, 1999.