Flowers: Portraits of Intimacy

By Adam Kufeld

A ward-winning photographer Adam Kufeld takes on the always popular subject of flowers in a fresh and provocative way, using a close-range lens to describe the intricate, surprising forms hidden inside blossoms. His macro lens allows Kufeld to capture detail invisible to the naked eye, and take advantage of the naturally brilliant color and suggestive forms of petal, stamen, and pistil to create images that transform their subject.A flower grower from an early age and an orchid tender for almost 15 years, Kufeld knows flowers intimately. His elegant, stylized, seductive portraits depict common garden flowers, including morning glories, bougainvillea, daisies, poppies, lilies, zinnias, roses, and passion flowers, as well as more exotic varieties, such as orchids. His original Giclee prints, on traditional watercolor paper, have been hugely successful in exhibition.Flowers: Portraits of Intimacy includes more than 60 photographs captioned with the common name of the flower and an introductionby acclaimed floral designer Rebecca Cole.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1584790792
• ISBN13: 9781584790792
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 108 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.9" x 11.6"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

A visual, exquisite journey

Adam Kufeld's book on flowers is a pure delight. It is a fantasy book in the truest sense -- it allows your imagination to soar as these beautiful photographs take you from the depths of the sea to the farthest reaches of outer space, all in the limitless creation of your mind's eye. Kufeld's photographic vision turns flowers into abstract paintings, into fantastic creatures, into images so sensual that they should be viewed in the privacy of one's boudoir! Kufeld leads us into the delicate private sanctum of the heart of the flower, revealing the intricate gloriously rich world that is so easily overlooked in our hurried lives. What a delicious treat!

Flowers: Portraits of Intimacy

Stunning!!! I have just poured over my copy of this book and am amazed by the depth, color and sumptuousness of these photographs. Flowers will never look the same after you see this book. Mr. Kufeld has explored the inner sanctum of one of nature's greatest wonders as though it were uncharted territory. His gentle touch and perceptive eye have rendered the universe hiding behind each petal like a magical netherworld.

The Poetry of Flowers

The images in Flowers: Portraits of Intimacy, by Adam Kufeld, are reminiscent of Georgia O'Keeffe's erotic portraits of flowers, yet each one is wholly original. Kufeld brings details--a pistil, stamen, or ring of petals--into sharp focus, letting the background become softly blurred. The result of this selective emphasis is the creation of foreground and distances, so that each orchid, lily, daisy, and rose becomes a world unto itself, a beautiful, intoxicating world that the viewer longs to enter. Kufeld has captured the poetry of flowers--starbursts, silvery cascades, lips, fingers, and dazzling flesh. This is not photojournalism or scientific photography: it is exquisite art.

Visually Enchanting

I have always been a huge fan of close-up photography, especially when the subject-matter is nature. I recently saw this book, and was amazed at the clarity, and the intense colors eminating from each page.I will definitely be passing this one on to family and friends who appreciate incredible photography like I do!

Flowers As You Have Never Before Imagined Them

This is an exquisite book.Through the expert use of microphotography, Mr. Kufeld transports us to a world within flowers which defies the imagination. Combining consummate photographic skill with the vision of an artist, Kufeld presents flowers as though they were paintings. The images are passionate and sensual. They awaken all of the senses. One sees flowers in a new and special way after spending time with this book. This is a book for self reflection, for giving to someone you really care about. It is for plant and flower lovers, lovers of nature, lovers in general. And if there is someone who is not particularly into flowers, this book may well give them a new perspective.