Striped Camellias by Ogawa Kazumasa Photography-Japanese flat color

flat color

Kandinsky believed colour and form could function like music

yet alive with implied movement

and tonal shifts all reproduced with crisp

the fine linework and delicate tonal gradations of this classic illustration reproduce with exceptional sharpness

Striped Camellias by Ogawa Kazumasa Photography-Japanese flat colorOgawa Kazumasa photographed striped camellias with the eye of a naturalist and the sensibility of an artist. Each bloom is rendered in exquisite detail the irregular stripe patterns on the petals appear almost painted, yet are entirely botanical. The image sits within the tradition of Meiji era Japanese botanical photography, where Western technique was absorbed and refined into something distinctly Japanese: composed, unhurried, precise. Cool, even