Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer known for his magnified black-and-white images of plants and flowers. With his photographs, Blossfeldt revealed the sculptural qualities and textural details of each specimen. “The plant never lapses into mere arid functionalism; it fashions and shapes according to logic and suitability, and with its primeval force compels everything to attain the highest artistic form,” he once said. Born on June 13, 1865 in Schielo, Germany, as a teenager he apprenticed at the Art Ironworks and Foundry in Mägdesprung, Germany. In 1881, Blossfeldt moved to Berlin to study ornamental design at the Royal School of the Museum of Decorative Arts. Despite having never trained as a photographer, he ...