Along roadsides and in fields, Barry Rosenthal finds beauty in the weedy and the wild, turning a gardener’s nemesis into fine art. His Photobotanicusseries pays homage to the history of botanical illustration and investigates the diversity of forms in the plant life growing unaided around us. Rosenthal’s compositions are marked by three-dimensionality and elements of graphic design, with negative space and perspective integral to their structures. He works outdoors in all seasons by setting his subjects on a white pad of paper and diffusing any sunlight. Rosenthal, also an urban archaeologist and sculptor, has long been turning discarded and overlooked things into art. He is committed to focusing attention on sustainability and such issues as plastics pollution, with his Found in Nature series. His photography is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and has an international following.
