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How is this better than photography? Surely it's easier to zoom in on a picture to see it's characteristics. This is concerning: "her gaze is on plants, dried

by jbob2000 7y ago

How is this better than photography? Surely it's easier to zoom in on a picture to see it's characteristics. This is concerning: "her gaze is on plants, dried specimens of dead plants, up close, and closer, under a microscope. Sometimes she hydrates stems and flower parts, coaxing zombie life into them." How does she know which parts of the plant to hydrate? What if it doesn't actually look like that in real life?

thatcat 7y ago
Plants that are alive are generally hydrated...
Igelau 7y ago
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taraxacum_officinale_-_K%C3%B6hler%E2%80%93s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-135.jpg#/media/File:Taraxacum_officinale_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-135.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taraxacum_officinale... You would be hard pressed to find a single photograph that captures this much individual information about what the various parts and stages of a dandelion look like. Even to find the leaf shape captured correctly is hard for a photograph. I think in this case there's a difference between what is photorealistic and what is useful information for identification.
- trolololooo 7y ago
  Very good answer. The botanical illustrator is taught how to demonstrate specific features of different taxonomies in a way that's natural and visually pleasing but conveys three dimensions of information, tactility, color, and biological characteristics (for example, do branches grow opposite one another or in a spiral up the stem, what is the texture under the leaf as well as above it, what does a bud look like, what does a live flower look like, what animals use this as a host plant and how, etc) that would be extremely difficult to photograph well.
simion314 7y ago
>How is this better than photography? I can think of some ways: - a photo can have too many details - a drawing does not have a focal point so it can be sharper - a drawing can accentuate some important features, like caricatures are easy to recognize then pictures My conclusion is you can have both pictures and illustrations , use them in combination or the best tool for the job
- jbob2000 7y ago
  You can edit a photograph to serve these purposes. You don't have to use a photo exactly as it is returned from the camera.
sinkasapa 7y ago
It is often the case that the details that are important to human perception are different than physical properties alone. An illustration abstracts away superfluous details and exaggerates others in subtle ways. Think of them like a diagram.
- jbob2000 7y ago
  You could edit the photographs to highlight the features you want to showcase.
  - pvaldes 7y ago
    Is possible, but take in mind that you would need 20 photographs for each species.
pvaldes 7y ago
> How does she know which parts of the plant to hydrate Because she is a professional trained in botany

thatcat 7y ago

Plants that are alive are generally hydrated...

Igelau 7y ago

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taraxacum_officinale_-_K%C3%B6hler%E2%80%93s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-135.jpg#/media/File:Taraxacum_officinale_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-135.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taraxacum_officinale... You would be hard pressed to find a single photograph that captures this much individual information about what the various parts and stages of a dandelion look like. Even to find the leaf shape captured correctly is hard for a photograph. I think in this case there's a difference between what is photorealistic and what is useful information for identification.

trolololooo 7y ago
Very good answer. The botanical illustrator is taught how to demonstrate specific features of different taxonomies in a way that's natural and visually pleasing but conveys three dimensions of information, tactility, color, and biological characteristics (for example, do branches grow opposite one another or in a spiral up the stem, what is the texture under the leaf as well as above it, what does a bud look like, what does a live flower look like, what animals use this as a host plant and how, etc) that would be extremely difficult to photograph well.

simion314 7y ago

>How is this better than photography? I can think of some ways: - a photo can have too many details - a drawing does not have a focal point so it can be sharper - a drawing can accentuate some important features, like caricatures are easy to recognize then pictures My conclusion is you can have both pictures and illustrations , use them in combination or the best tool for the job

jbob2000 7y ago
You can edit a photograph to serve these purposes. You don't have to use a photo exactly as it is returned from the camera.

sinkasapa 7y ago

It is often the case that the details that are important to human perception are different than physical properties alone. An illustration abstracts away superfluous details and exaggerates others in subtle ways. Think of them like a diagram.

jbob2000 7y ago
You could edit the photographs to highlight the features you want to showcase.
- pvaldes 7y ago
  Is possible, but take in mind that you would need 20 photographs for each species.

pvaldes 7y ago

> How does she know which parts of the plant to hydrate Because she is a professional trained in botany