Scientific classification books illustrated by skilled artists often contained magnificent images and constituted stunning aesthetic objects. They were regarded not only as practical scientific tools, but also as collectibles in their own right.
In a contemporary, local context, Eliezer Sonnenschein has observed that classification books printed in Israel prior to the Yom Kippur War (in 1973) involved collaborations between local artists and botanists. These books proudly presented the flora and fauna of the newly founded Israeli state.
With the development of photographic technology and the growing accessibility of this medium, many botanists and entomologists decided to literally take matters into their own hands, and began photographing the plants or insects themselves. As a result, the uniqueness and beauty of the images included in taxonomy manuals deteriorated significantly,
In this project, Eliezer Sonnenschein presents, for the first time, a large number of images from a new guidebook to local plants and insects (particularly from the north of the country, where he resides), which he is planning to publish. His intention is to create a manual specially designed to reawaken a love of nature among both children and adults by means of beautiful and detailed high-definition images.
Sonnenschein’s contemporary version of a taxonomy book resuscitates the tradition of collaborations between art and science, and thus revives one of the most cherished objects in traditional cabinets of wonder – the highly accurate and aesthetically beautiful classification manual.
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