Striking Images of Nature

Katinka Matson is a New York digital artist who produces incredibly detailed images of flowers and other natural objects using a conventional scanner. While most people think of flatbed scanners as useful devices for copying text or images from paper, Matson realized that the device was better at capturing depth than conventionally thought. This realization, combined with her aesthetics and sense of composition, results in striking images.

Technologically, the “moving eye” of the modern high-resolution scanner creates a remarkably detailed image without the distortion of a camera lens. An inkjet printer completes the process, producing a sharp vivid picture.

Researchers also use digital scanners in experiments and for documentation. For example, it is possible to use scanners to accurately determine the area of a leaf or root-shoot ratios for seedlings. At UBC Botanical Garden, we are currently using a flatbed scanner to record images of seeds from our archives.

Link: The Art of Katinka Matson

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:23 PM on April 15, 2004