Propping roots, copper beech, Fagus sylvatica, Fagaceae, ca. 1930

About the Work

The prop roots are protruding into the leaves like claws. The extreme detail adds a surreal, bizarre quality. Partial soft focus suggests that the leaves are moving. Thus Fuhrmann sought to transfer the vividness of the plant to the two-dimensional picture plane. The photographs oscillate between artistic composition and scientific research. Fuhrmann was convinced of natural philosophy and thought that man and nature were to be considered as a holistic being.