William Rugen: New Botanicals

New Botanicals evokes 19th Century botanical illustrations through these modern photographic interpretations.

"The nucleus for "New Botanicals" is a love for the botanical prints of the 18th and 19th centuries. There is a great cross-pollination of art and biology in those prints that I wanted to somehow capture. I see my images as both an homage and graphical update to those prints.

I want to find a balance between the grace of the visible plant and the mechanics of its growth engine, the roots.  I like the idea that this amazing object could not exist without the inelegant tangle that is just out of sight.  It is a reminder that everything of beauty or value requires a certain amount “ugliness” to come to fruition."