Heidi Cockram
Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer, sculptor, teacher and artist, born on June 13th 1865 in Schielo, Germany. He died on December 9th 1932 in Berlin, Germany. Blossfeldt was best known for his close-up photos of plants and living things. He was inspired, like his father, by nature and the way it grows. Also, he believed that 'the plant must be valued as a totally artistic and architectural structure'. The public first noticed him when he published his first set of photographs, "Urformen Der Kunst" (Art Forms in Nature) after an exhibition of his work.
Karl Blossfeldt
Photo 1:
The main object that catches the viewers attention first is the flower, it is bold and very eye-catching. It has a plain white background which makes the flower stand out more because the colours contrast each other. Also, the stem of the flower leads you along the photo, so you see the whole photo. The photo has been taken from the front because you can see the whole object. If it was taken from a different angle it would look different and give a different mood.
Photo 2:
In this photo the main image is the leaf, it has many lines that lead in many directions (leading lines). They take the viewer around the photo making sure the whole picture is seen. The object is on a plain background which makes the main image stand out. Also, the image was taken from the front angle. You can see the whole main object in this view.
Photo 3:
This photo's main image is a vine, its line twirls around its self making the photo look more interesting and it holds the viewers attention for longer. Also, it takes your attention all around the picture. I think the object is on a plain background making it easier to see all the twists and turns on the object.
I think Karl Blossfeldt was trying to say, through his photos, that nature/organic objects are unique in their own way. in my opinion, I think he did achieve this because all of his pictures are different and unique.
My Karl Blossfeldt Photos
In the photoshoot, my intentions were to take my own set of photos in the style of Karl Blossfeldt. I tried to use the same composition as Karl Blossfeldt; this worked well. However, in some of my photos there is too much of a shadow; which did not work as well. Next time, I will focus on using one flower to see if I can take better photos.
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My Edits
I chose the following photos because they have good composition which fits with the style of Karl Blossfeldt. Also, you can see all the detail on the plants, which makes them look interesting. To achieve the black and white look, I turned down the saturation and made some of the levels lighter or darker. By doing this the style of Karl Blossfeldt can be seen more. This has made the photo look better because all the fine detail can be seen more.
My Karl Blossfeldt Inspired Photos
During this photoshoot, my intentions were to take some photos inspired by the style of Karl Blossfeldt's, however adding my own ideas to the photos. I like how that in the background there is the shadow of the flower on the background. Also, you can see all of the texture in the plants. On the other hand, some of the photo's backgrounds have too much of a shadow which makes them look a little dark. to improve this I could add more light to make it more brighter.
My inspired photo edits
I chose these photos to Photoshop because they have a lot of texture which is more visible in black and white. Also, they have a good composition which makes them look more interesting. I turned down the saturation which made them black and white. Then I used the levels to adjust anything that was too dark or too light. This has made them go into the same style as Karl Blossfeldt.