The publisher Xavier Barral has just released Les extravagantes, a book gathering the portraits of flowers shot in autochrome by Dutch photographer Lendeert Blok who, in the 1920s, experimented with color process and the use of the panoramic format. The photographer was able to get incredibly close to his subject and developed a singular approach where each flower became a sculpture.
A pioneer of color photography, Blok worked closely in the 1920s with flower producers in Holland, who were developing many new floral varieties. The heir to German photographer Karl Blossfeldt, Blok became interested thirty years later not only in showing the formal richness of flowers, but also in celebrating the horticultural manipulations of the time. It was the era of Tulipomania, one of the photographer’s favorite subjects, when unusual shapes were everywhere and the size of the corolla was growing ever larger. In addition to tulips, Blok also photographed daffodils, dahlias, hyacinths, irises and gladioli.
Beyond the documentary approach, he captured flowers like objects of desire through an austere staging and subtle light which revealed the colorful nuances of autochrome, showing a timeless plant world where corollas, petals and buds were sublimated by the chiaroscuro. The flowers stand out against a dark and uniform background, a nod to the famous vanities of the Dutch Golden Age.
BOOK
Les extravagantes
Photographs : Leendert Blok
Text : Gilles Clément
Editions Xavier Barral
With support of Neuflize Vie
19 x 26 mm
176 pages
85 color and B&W photographs
ISBN : 978-2-36511-051-8
Prix : 49 € TTC
