This rotation bridges the fields of art and science by highlighting photography’s deep-rooted relationship with the natural world. Given the medium’s unmatched ability to render fine details, flowers and plant life have been a perennial fascination for photographers.
Photography and the Botanical World
Lois Conner, West Lake, Hangzhou, China, 1998, from the series Lotus. Platinum print. Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Peggy and Richard M. Danziger, LL.B. 1963. ©Lois Conner
Early Pioneers
The 19th-century British botanist Anna Atkins introduced photography to scientific study by placing algae and fern specimens directly onto photosensitive paper. During the same period, the groundbreaking inventor William Henry Fox Talbot experimented with contact prints of plant samples.
Artists of the early 1900s incorporated botanicals into works across a wide range of aesthetic styles. Karl Blossfeldt created sculptural surveys of leaves and seedlings, while Pictorialists like Edward Steichen and Edwin Hale Lincoln crafted poetic flower studies to elevate photography to the level of traditional art forms.
Modern and Contemporary Interpretations
Works in vivid color by Audrey Flack and Jerome Liebling celebrate the vibrant palette of various flora. Tanya Marcuse and Mitch Epstein use plant imagery to comment on life’s passage from peak bloom to inevitable decay. Today, the natural world continues to provide fertile inspiration to a newer generation of artists, including Martine Gutierrez and Atong Atem, who weave botanicals into expressions of personal identity.
Photography and the Botanical World is on view on the museum’s fourth floor through early June.