Plantstudie, Equisetum hiemale 1928

This is Karl Blossfeldt’s ‘Plantstudie, Equisetum hiemale’, a photograph made in, well, we don’t know exactly when. The entire image is almost sculptural, made up of subtle tonal gradations. The plant’s segmented form, captured in such detail, becomes a study in repetition and variation. Blossfeldt's focus on texture and form transforms this horsetail plant into something otherworldly. The surface is so meticulously rendered, you can almost feel the ridges and the slight irregularities. Look at the very top, where the plant tapers to a point - there’s a beautiful soft blur here, which contrasts with the sharp focus of the stem below. Looking at this piece, I think of Bernd and Hilla Becher, who photographed industrial structures with the same cool, objective eye. But where the Bechers documented the man-made, Blossfeldt found the same kind of stark beauty in nature. Art is all about finding new ways of seeing what’s already there, isn't it?