Back Garden Blossfeldts
This is a post from the weareoca.com archive. Information contained within it may now be out of date.
Unfortunately you have already missed the opportunity to attend the OCA study visit to the Whitechapel Gallery retrospective of work by Karl Blossfeldt, but you can still do the post-visit ‘homework’. Tutors Robert Enoch and Rob Bloomfield challenged students to make their own ‘Back Garden Blossfeldts’. What is a Back Garden Blossfeldt? Clearly it cannot be an image by the now long dead photographer. Rather it is an image that captures some of the mixture of detailed realism and studied ambiguity that characterises Blossfedt’s work. Above is Robert’s example. Student Miriam Comber has already tried (see her results here).
If you are looking for inspiration look at Helen Rosemier’s blog post of the study visit. You can check out Blossfeldt’s work en masse and ponder some of the study visit discussion points. Just what is it that makes a Blossfeldt a Blossfeldt?
When you are done, post the images in your learning log and comment with a link below. This is not a competition, just a good way to spend a few moments (or maybe longer).
28 thoughts on “Back Garden Blossfeldts”
Leave a Reply
> Next Post Move to stills
< Previous Post Inspiration for all!
Tutor News – Katrina Whitehead
6 Comments
Some of you will know me as your personal tutor, or you may have...
Read more
Student Stories: Julia McLean
2 Comments
OCA Photography Program Leader Dan Robinson caught up with Julia McLean about her experience...
Read more
OCA’s Online Degree Show Showcase 2023
0 Comments
Welcome to our online Degree Show Showcase 22/23 where we are celebrating a number...
Read more
Student stories: Nuala Mahon
30 Comments
I have arrived at the finishing line of the long adventure that is (or...
Read more
Looks great, will follow this up. But some of us live too far from London…
Miriam’s “Walnut” has some of the characteristics of a ‘Blossfeldt’ in the detail, texture and structure of the plant. The plant stands out well against the background and the leaves show their form well. But it’s also Miriam’s own photo.
We have to ask ourselves whether copying and appropriation and showing influence are “imitation” or more like a pianist playing Beethoven and bringing their own life and interpretation to it. In some arts this would be considered perfectly appropriate. Fine Art is often more ‘jealous’! Hence the reputation of copyists. Don’t let that put you off trying a Back Garden Blossfledt!
Lovely image Robert, and full of life I think – less static than Blossfeldt’s.
I wasn’t able to attend the study visit, unfortunately, and so not entirely sure whether this personal experiment qualifies, but here is something similar that I did back in December.
The intro to the Flickr set explains what I was trying to achieve. (Filling a wall space, for one thing!) There’s a write-up about in my blog, under ‘Personal Project’, here.
Nice experiments Stan. Interesting also to note how much impact colour has. I found the green so overwhelming that it detracted from the perception of the form.
Here’s my attempt.
I don’t think it’s too light. The form and texture are so salient. Not sure Blossfeldt would have created a ‘pictorial’ view.
A link to my attempts.
That tent gives you good control over the white. The dandelion is lovely.
A few attempts in the garden ….
Hi Steve, Good to see your contributions. Gorgeous tones.
I had a go too
After my attempt I’m wondering how he got his flowers etc. positioned so formally, they look so architectural. When I tried to position my flowers a bit better one of them dropped off so I had to give up!
Bluetac!
Paddy Howe
My contribution
These ferns are uncanny, striking. Interesting how the sepia tint helps to ‘date’ them!
I used some of Blossfeldt’s work as a starting point for my second AoP assignment
It certainly makes a difference seeing real (original?) prints rather than images from a Google search.
Here’s a 21st Century take on the Blossfeldt – http://www.frantic.jp/en/artist/artist-murayama.html – the process and the results are pretty amazing.
Great the way you’ve been influenced but used that influence as a springboard to make something of your own.
Wow, I’m so impressed by all this inspiring work. You’ve all managed to emphasize the 3D form of the plants and make them tactile.
Looking at the work fellow students are doing is quite impressive – it is though a reminder partly of the way camera and film technology have improved – the fact is that Blossfeldt was primarily concerned with form and this seems to be missing from the work I have seen (including my own!) … that was his genius and none of appear to have come near to it – Blossfeldt one learns was using dried plants, gathered on expeditions to the south, and the light was natural – he also set up his subject so that depth of field was not going to be a problem as with a flower – for me Blossfeldt is a source of inspiration but although copying him interests me, I also feed the need to develop his approach!
Here is a quote …
“The plant may be described as an ornamental structure, shaped and designed ornamentally and objectively. Compelled in it’s fight for existence to build in a purposeful manner, it constructs the necessary and practical units for advancement, governed by the laws familiar to every architect, and combines practicability and expediency in the highest form of art.Not only then, in the world of art, but equally in the realm of science, Nature is our best teacher.” Karl Blossfeldt “Wundergarten der Natur” 1932
Lovely quote. Here is a link to a few more of my experiments. http://oca-student.com/node/104502
I was also wondering whether anyone had photographed a subject other than plant life?
While working with Blossfeldt’s concepts, I got this advert via email …
http://www.wexphotographic.com/blog/field-studio-photography-part-1?CM_MMC=ExactTarget-_-Marketing-_-LM_1189916-_-main-banner
Might interest some as it does talk about the making of such photos – but outside rather than inside!
Hi Robert
Yes, I did photograph something other than flowers – another object from the garden, found on the lawn …
http://amanophotoblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/back-garden-blossfeldts/
I think Blossfeldt’s approach can be developed but to reproduce the essence of what he is doing, capturing the archetypal nature of form, is virtually impossible …
The purpose of learning from other artists by emulating their work is not to “do what they are doing”, but to add something to the way we work. And that is the purpose of this challenge. It may be that you take the emphasis of form into portraiture for example.
Has anyone noticed how after seeing this exhibition and seeking interesting forms in the garden, your senses are more alive to natural forms generally? I noticed this yesterday on one of my walks. And this is a wonderful thing about art, when it helps us to live more deeply.
I couldn’t make the exhibition, but here is my attempt logged in my Scrapbook: http://jointheaascrapbook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/backgarden-blossfeldts.html
Also unable to attend the exhibition but after hearing about the visit I had a look at some of his work and was blown away. Love the simplicity of the idea but having had a little go at my own Back Garden Blossfeldts today I can appreciate totally the vision of showing these plants in an architectural or sculptural way.
It’s not until I had my images in front of me and then looking again at what he achieved that I can see I’m way off. I think image 3 is the closest I got but I’m up for having another go at this.
http://squarebydesign.co.uk/taop/2013/05/back-garden-blossfeldts/
If anyone is Southwark then they might want to drop into the Menier Gallery (Chocolate factory) on Southwark Street and see the Arena exhibition – in particular Carol Hick’s work “Life and Death of the Dandelion”. The show is only on until 22nd June. More of her work can be found here http://www.carolhicks.co.uk