Anonymous Was a Botanist

In upcoming blog entries I’m going to pair my photographs of flowers with botanical illustrations created by women who were both amateur botanists and early natural history painters (whom you’ve probably never heard of).  

Because I use flower photographs in my larger compositions, I rarely feature them as stand-alone images. This gives me the opportunity to share them alongside the work of other women whom I admire and have been influenced by.

Physalis, Winter Cherry (paper collage), Mary Delaney, 1700-88

Dandelion with a Moth, Margaretha Barbara Dietzsch, 1741-1784

Dandelion with a Moth, Margaretha Barbara Dietzsch, 1741-1783

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at 2/09/2017

Anonymous Was a Botanist

at 2/09/2017 0 comments

Anonymous Was a Woman of Art and Science

I have a pile of botanical illustration books that I've used as reference material over the past years. While looking at these books I made the discovery that many of the serious illustrators of the 17th through 19th centuries were women.

Perhaps this was possible because botanical drawing held an association to the female hobbies of handiwork, craft and gardening. In gendered activities such as floral needlework, women could combine their interests in science and art in a somewhat subversive way. Ultimately in the larger sphere of art, botanical painting did not hold the same significance as the history and religious painting being done by men and so it did not pose an overwhelming threat.

Nevertheless, I've had the pleasure of looking through a lens at some stunning flowers!

Most often women encountered nature in much the same ways that men did. Walking through gardens and along roadsides, they collected specimens which they viewed with lenses. They were allowed to attend public lectures, read texts and engage in fieldwork. 

Like the thousands of mushroom photos I’ve taken, I have at least an equal number of plant photographs. These photos are not meant to be plant portraits. Instead, they go into my photo library which I cull through again and again when looking for the right image to use in a larger, constructed artwork. The original photographs go unseen.

In upcoming blog entries I’m going to pair my photographs of flowers with botanical illustrations created by women who were both amateur botanists and early natural history painters (whom you’ve probably never heard of).  

Because I use flower photographs in my larger compositions, I rarely feature them as stand-alone images. This gives me the opportunity to share them alongside the work of other women whom I admire and have been influenced by.

Iris Susiana, Maria Sibylla Merian, ca 1700

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at 6/01/2016

Anonymous Was a Woman of Art and Science

at 6/01/2016 0 comments

Anonymous Was a Botanist: The Iris

In upcoming blog entries I’m going to pair my photographs of flowers with botanical illustrations created by women who were both amateur botanists and early natural history painters (whom you’ve probably never heard of).  

Because I use flower photographs in my larger compositions, I rarely feature them as stand-alone images. This gives me the opportunity to share them alongside the work of other women whom I admire and have been influenced by.

Blue Iris (Germanica) Caterpillar and Red Backed Beetle, Barbara Regina Dietzsch, 18th Century.

Blue Iris and Butterfly,  Louise d'Orleans,  ca. 1820

Iris Hortensis Latifolia, Maria Sibylla Merian, 1713

Iris, Lady Harriet Anne Thiselton Dyer, 1854-1945

Irises, Jane Webb Loudon, 1807-1858

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at 4/13/2016

Anonymous Was a Botanist: The Iris

at 4/13/2016 0 comments

Anonymous Was a Botanist: Tulips

In upcoming blog entries I’m going to pair my “botanical” photographs with an illustration created by an early female natural history painter (whom you’ve probably never heard of).  

This gives me the opportunity to let some of my flower photographs see the light of day. It's also a chance to show the shared interests and approaches of many.

Rembrandt Tulip, Louisa d'Orleans

Three Lily Tulips, Louise d'Orleans

Notes on the Tulip Species, Elsie Katherine Dykes, ca. late 1800's

A Parrot Tulip, Auriculas, and Red Currants,
with a Magpie Moth, its Caterpillar and Pupa, Maria Sibylla Merian, 1647-1717

Three Tulips, Maria Sibylla Merian, 1647-1717

Garden Tulips, Maria Sibylla Merian, 1647-1717

Three Tulips, Mrs. Clarissa W. Munger Badger, 1806-1889

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at 4/01/2016

Anonymous Was a Botanist: Tulips

at 4/01/2016 0 comments

Anonymous Was a Botanist: Lily

In upcoming blog entries I’m going to pair my photographs of flowers with botanical illustrations created by women who were both amateur botanists and early natural history painters (whom you’ve probably never heard of).  

Because I use flower photographs in my larger compositions, I rarely feature them as stand-alone images. This gives me the opportunity to share them alongside the work of other women whom I admire and have been influenced by.

Hemerocallis Clon Luteola, Mary Emily Eaton, 1873-1961

Hemorocallus, Louise d'Orleans, 1812-1850

Lilium

Amaryllis, Priscilla Susan Bury, 1793-1869

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at 3/01/2016

Anonymous Was a Botanist: Lily

at 3/01/2016 0 comments