A passion for petals
An early proponent of colour photography and realism – and an influential figure in the botanical photography of the early 19th century – Blok became fascinated with the flowers cultivated in the nurseries of his hometown Lisse, near Amsterdam.
Working closely with the growers, he began to document the blooms in intricate detail for study purposes and produced display catalogues for gardening businesses and bulb developers from neighbouring Haarlem and Sassenheim.
Being in the Netherlands, tulips, of course, form an important part of his extensive collection – but daffodils, dahlias, hyacinths, irises and gladiolas (to name but a few) were also sensitively captured in all their glory.
No ordinary botanical photographer
While Blok’s attention to detail made him the ideal botanist’s companion – as well as cementing his reputation as a realist – he was a botanical photographer with a difference. His approach to his beautiful subjects was not, first and foremost, that of a botanist, but of a portrait photographer. Bringing the blooms to life, he chose to capture the essence of each flower as an individual sculptural form or as part of a group composition.
By capturing his subjects against plain, neutral backgrounds and lighting every blossom with precision, he was able to capture the subtlest nuances of texture, colour and form.
Back to life
It might surprise you to learn that Blok’s work was largely overlooked until Dutch photography historian Frido Troost (1960–2013) rediscovered it. Today, it can be found in the Spaarnestad Photo archives in The Hague. But you don’t have to travel to the Netherlands to have access to the artists’ beautiful and vast collection thanks to the publication of Silent Beauties.
Silent Beauty by Leendert Blok is out now - get yourself a copy here.
