Flora Figures - A Study of Kazumasa Ogawa's Tree Peony

"Every image embodies a way of seeing. Even a photograph. For photographs are not, as is often assumed, a mechanical record." — John Berger, Ways of Seeing

Kazumasa Ogawa (1860–1929) stands among Japan's most significant early photographers and printers. His landmark 1896 publication Some Japanese Flowers presented hand-colored collotype prints showcasing indigenous Japanese flora. Ogawa personally applied color to each photograph, deliberately guiding viewer attention through strategic artistic choices about which elements deserved emphasis.

The Book's Conceptual Approach

This project applies algorithmic transformation to a single Ogawa photograph, repeatedly manipulating the source material. Rather than generating entirely new imagery from scratch—as contemporary tools increasingly do—the work prioritizes reimagining existing photographs. The artist emphasizes this distinction: exploring transformation over generation when confronting technology that creates pixels divorced from any authentic botanical moment.

Production Details

Romello Goodman conceived, coded, and designed this book in Baltimore, Maryland using his specialized bookmaking software stack (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, minipix, and crown). Risolve Studios in Lancaster, Pennsylvania executed risograph printing and binding using fluorescent pink, yellow, blue, and black inks. Public Sans provides the typeface.