Seeds – Five Questions with the Authors, Rob Kesseler & Wolfgang Stuppy
We had the privilege of sitting down with Rob Kesseler and Wolfgang Stuppy, the authors of Seeds – Time Capsules of Life, to explore the extraordinary world of seeds. In this interview, they share how their collaboration transformed botanical microscopy into breathtaking imagery, reveal some of the most surprising discoveries they’ve made, and discuss the vital role seeds play in our planet’s ecosystems.
- Why does the world need this book?
ROB: Awareness of the beauty and complexity of seeds is a valuable portal into understanding the vital part seeds play in maintaining the diversity of our ecosystems at a time when our planet faces serious climate challenges.
Each seed, each specimen is a new chapter of discovery, one cannot help but be amazed at the variety of shapes, surfaces, and patterns, and the many ingenious dispersal mechanisms they have evolved to ensure successive generations of each plant. Working with Wolfgang Stuppy I knew the fantastic forms of seeds would be inspirational to many creative people: architects, fashion designers, jewellers, ceramicists, and sculptors, as well as plant lovers.
WOLFGANG: Because everyone is familiar with seeds and yet, very few people, including most scientists, have ever had the chance to see the unbelievable beauty and sophistication of these seemingly mundane structures. Popular scientific books on seeds are scarce, and none offer such a spectacularly beautiful, deep, and scientifically sound insight into their diversity and natural history for non-specialist audiences. While people know what seeds are and what they “do”, hardly anyone, not even botanists, pay much attention to them unless they are useful, primarily for agriculture or ornamental purposes. Our book provides a unique overview of the diversity of seeds from around the world and highlights their crucial role in the grand scheme of life on Earth.
We hope that through its unique perspective that combines science and art, Seeds – Time Capsules of Life reaches audiences of many different backgrounds, especially those without a specific interest in plants or the natural world. Our greatest achievement would be if, in its readers, it can re-ignite the innate fascination for the natural world that resides within each of us.
- Your book is a true fusion of work between an artist and a scientist. How is the book enhanced by having both of you working on it?
ROB: Complex subjects such as this require multiple voices to fully communicate and express the fundamental role seeds play. Historically, artists have occupied an important role in recording the wealth of plant species for scientific reference, but more recently scientists have appreciated that the artist is able to express qualities beyond the realm of conventional scientific illustration, revealing new perspectives and enthusing new audiences. Scientists are governed by working within strict protocols and methods, whereas I as the artist have a more freedom to move beyond conventional boundaries. This freedom however also requires a considered methodology based upon the scientific knowledge gained by working with Wolfgang Stuppy.
WOLFGANG: Scientist are tied to rigorous protocols in the way they work and think. Artists, on the other hand, are completely free in their working and thinking. In a way, the two of us working together was two worlds colliding. We both had to get used to the other person’s way of thinking and how we each approach our joint project. For me, as the scientist, working with Rob gave me the chance to see far beyond science, to discover the world of art and artists. It certainly made me see many things with a wider perspective and not only from a strictly scientific angle. To be honest, I jealously admired the freedom with which Rob could approach the subject, whereas I had to wear the tight corsage of scientific rigour. But it is exactly this combination of artistic freedom and scientific rigour that makes our book so unique. I don’t know of any other book that does that in the way we did it.
- Do you have a favourite spread, page, or photograph from the book? What is the story behind it?
ROB: It is hard to choose a favourite image as there is such an amazing diversity. When collecting material for the book I was amazed to find out just how tiny the seeds of orchids are, almost dust-like. The seeds of Ophrys ferrum-equinum, the Horseshoe bee orchid, were collected from outside my studio in Corfu and like many orchid seeds they have wonderful sculptural elongated honeycomb structures. They were coloured to reflect the colour of the orchid flower and arranged to reflect the horseshoe pattern on the petal of the flower.
I am also very fond of the dried seedpod of the Blackstonia perfoliata, Yellow wort, a member of the Gentian family. The delicate yellow flowers emerge in spring around my studio in Corfu. In the image the seed pod is split open revealing one remaining seed; the green sepals form a collar around the pod while the twisted dried petals on top appear like a piece of exotic millenary from a Renaissance fresco.
WOLFGANG: I do love the image that is on the cover of the new edition. It belongs to a member of the Loasaceae family which are infamous for their really nasty stinging hairs. I knew that members of this family have got some of the most amazing seeds ever and we needed a spectacular new cover image. Therefore, I contacted Prof. Maximilian Weigend at Bonn University who is a specialist on the Loasaceae. He very kindly sent me some seed samples from his scientific collection, and we struck gold with the image of a seed of Caiophora archevaletae.
left to right: a seed of Blackstonia perfoliata; a seed of Ophrys ferrum–equinum; the front cover of Seeds: a seed of Caiophora archevaletae
- Who or where do you get your inspiration from?
ROB: Inspiration comes in many forms: walking in the countryside, observing and collecting specimens not knowing just what they might reveal. Then there is the diversity of artistic responses to plants over the past 500 years which is astonishing; there are many great examples, spanning scientific illustration through to abstract forms of expression. The earliest microscopic work of Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703) that were illustrated in his ground-breaking book Micrographia are remarkable,and the examples of plant anatomy of Nehemiah Grew (1641 – 1712) are particular favourites of mine. The watercolours of Franz Bauer (1758 – 1840) who was employed by Joseph Banks to record the many new plants arriving at Kew have a perfectly observed delicacy that sit in marked contrast to the impressionist paintings of Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) whose powerful experimentation with colour in capturing the essence of the plants in his garden at Giverny is especially moving.
Moving into the 20th century, the Hungarian painter and photographer Lázló Moholy-Nagy played a pivotal role in presenting a unified vision of art and science through his creation of the Centre for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT where he created ground breaking exhibitions in which contemporary art, science, and architecture were presented alongside each other.
Finally, I dedicated Seeds to Madeline Harley, formerly a palynologist at Kew who, 25 years ago, responded with generous positivity to my suggestion for a botanical art and science collaboration. We created our first book with Papadakis, the award-winning Pollen, the Hidden Sexuality of Flowers, that created new audiences around the world and which made it possible for me to work with many wonderful plant scientists in the creation of new forms of artistic expression. Through Madeline I met Wolfgang Stuppy with whom I developed an inspiring partnership in which I was privileged to be able to draw upon his vast knowledge of plants that was essential in expanding my own understanding when developing the images.
WOLFGANG: I dedicated this book to my PhD supervisor, Herbert Huber, a true genius with extensive knowledge of both plants and insects. His brutally rational way of thinking, grounded in a vast body of knowledge and experience, was incredibly liberating and enlightening to me at a young age. Few people have had a greater influence on me than Herbert Huber. Unique among botanists, he was also a great specialist on seeds. He passed his fascination for seeds on to me, and it has never left me since. When I became the Seed Morphologist at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, where seeds from all kinds of plants from all around the world are gathered, my passion for seeds was re-ignited, as if pouring fuel onto a fire. With Rob Kesseler I eventually found the perfect partner to produce this unique book with which I could share my fascination for seeds with the rest of the world.
- What’s the most fascinating or surprising thing that you’ve learnt during your research?
ROB: As an artist, it is a privilege not only to work with top level scientists but to have the value of one’s work recognised by them, but it requires a deep immersion to learn more about their methods and immersive access to their technologies to be able to translate scientific data into colourful artworks. For this new book I have been fortunate to draw upon a range of microscopy technologies, each with their own way of revealing different visual qualities.
WOLFGANG: As a scientist you typically work on narrowly defined projects, such as the seeds of a specific group of plants which means your scope is very limited. When starting to work with Rob Kesseler on our book which is really about giving an overview of the “seeds of the world”, I was forced to vastly expand my horizon and do a great deal of reading and researching so as to find the most interesting and appropriate seeds we needed to tell and illustrate our story. It was whilst writing our books on seeds and fruits that I acquired the knowledge that made me a real expert in the field of fruits and seeds. I would never have acquired this breadth of knowledge working on narrow scientific projects alone.
The most fascinating and surprising thing I have learned during our exploration of the seed world is the existence of tiny seeds whose seed coat has the structure of a honeycomb (e.g. Lamourouxia, Castilleja, Loasa, Caiophora). Until then, I didn’t know that such extreme seed coats existed, and their structure looks just amazing under a microscope. They are still my favourite seeds!
6. Is that the real colour of the seeds?
ROB: Not exactly; as they dry seeds change colour, often with muted tones, so I have introduced colour based on the colours of the plant and its flowers from which the seed was collected to create micro seed portraits. Colour is used to distinguish functional and structural qualities of the seed and above all to capture the character and essence of each specimen. Each seed carries within it the DNA that governs the colours and patterns of the plant that will grow from it and my additions of colour reflect that. In nature colour has many functions such as to attract insect pollinators and birds for seed dispersal. As an artist, I use colour to attract a human audience and my dispersal mechanisms are through the publication of books like this.
Seeds – Time Capsules of Life is out now! You can find all available links to purchase here
Our Frozen Planet – 5 Questions with the Authors...
We had the privilege of sitting down with Michael Hambrey and Jürg Alean, the authors of Our Frozen Planet, to explore their fascinating work on the cryosphere – Earth’s frozen regions. In this interview, they share their experiences from some of the most extreme and breathtaking places on the planet, delve into the tangible impacts of climate change they’ve witnessed firsthand, and reveal the personal journeys that inspired their lifelong dedication to glaciology. Here are five questions with the experts behind this inspiring book.
1. Why does the world need this book?
MICHAEL and JÜRG: Our planet has vast regions that are covered by snow and ice. These regions are collectively referred to as the ‘cryosphere’, which includes 10% of our land area being covered by glacier ice, even greater expanses covered by seasonal snow or underlain by permafrost, and the polar oceans covered by seasonal and once-permanent sea ice.
The features of snow and ice, in whatever form, are of immeasurable beauty, which this book illustrates, whether in the form of the tiniest snow crystal or the largest glacier.
All components of the cryosphere are now under severe stress, rapidly reducing in area at an accelerating rate as a consequence of human-induced global heating. This book, composed of illustrations from all over the world by the authors, explains the nature of the cryosphere and how it is changing now, and how it has changed in the past.
The presence and decline of the cryosphere strongly influence humanity’s activities, whether from rising seas levels, reduction in water resources for irrigation and hydropower, the impact of associated hazards, and the challenge to snow-sport tourism. Furthermore, snow and ice have a profound effect on the health of ecosystems, with many species affected by declining snow and ice cover.
The book therefore aims to draw attention to how the cryosphere is changing as a consequence of human activity on a global scale, and demonstrates the beauty of this component of Planet Earth, and highlights what we are now in the process of losing.
2. You’ve documented your travels to some remarkable places in this book. What’s the most extreme place to which your research has taken you?
MICHAEL: I have been to numerous remote regions where there have been extremes of temperature, precipitation, wind and altitude, ranging from the polar regions to high mountain ranges.
Perhaps the remotest and coldest field area I have undertaken was on the Shackleton Glacier in the Transantarctic Mountains, just 500 km from the South Pole, albeit with the vast logistical support of the US National Science Foundation. This glacier drains part of the immense East Antarctic Ice Sheet, flowing through the mountains to reach sea level in the Ross Ice Shelf. It is surrounded with mountain ranges and isolated ‘nunataks’, which are essentially bare arid stony wastes, but preserve a remarkable geological record. With colleagues I was investigating early glacial events, preserved in sediments, at a time when the Antarctic climate was much warmer, and vegetation was growing along the glacier margins.
JÜRG: Expedition Fjord, Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada.
3. Do you have a favourite spread, page, or photograph from the book? What is the story behind it?
MICHAEL: Daugaard-Jensson Gletscher, East Greenland, pp 118-119
This is the terminus of one of the major outlet glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet, at the head of the world’s longest, and arguably finest, fjord. The glacier terminates in the sea as a floating tongue, and is one of the most prolific producers of large icebergs, many of which are sublime components of the landscape. Very few ships have actually reached the terminus due to the large numbers of icebergs that are densely packed into the inner reaches of the fjord. As on several other occasions, in September 2017 I had the good fortune to sail on the Quark Expedition ship ‘Ocean Nova’, a small ice-strengthened vessel, carrying around 70 guests and a similar number of staff and crew. I was employed as the expedition’s geologist/glaciologist, and had the privilege of explaining what we were seeing as we sailing in and out of several fjords in this stunningly beautiful part of the world.
JÜRG: Axel Heiberg Island, pp. 142-143
This double page spread shows, on the upper left, Phantom Peak on Axel Heiberg Island, where I did fieldwork in 1976, 1977, 2008 and 2022 (aerial photo by Mike Hambrey). I scaled this mountain in July 1977, after a two-day ski and foot journey to its vicinity, carrying all camping and surveying equipment. Phantom Peak is arguably the most prominent and attractive peak in the expedition area, climbed by no more than a handful of people. Our party of four reached the top in ideal weather conditions. However, this was only after a dangerous traverse of two frozen-over ice-dammed lakes, one of which is visible in the foreground. For the ascent we used touring skis, and the descent over perfectly uniform snow was the best (and fastest) ever from any mountain on this wonderful High-Arctic island – an experience of a lifetime!
4. What’s the most severe, or tangible, consequence of the current global climate crisis that you have seen yourself?
MICHAEL: Over the course of five decades, I have seen many severe impacts of the global climate crisis both in the polar regions and in the high mountain ranges of the world. Change in those regions is manifested most strongly in the recession of glaciers. This is particularly noticeable in the Norwegian High-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, where average annual temperatures have risen several degrees Celsius in my lifetime. Many glaciers have thinned and their termini have receded, sometimes by several kilometres, and have become decaying carcases, riddled with meltwater cavities and draped in debris. Extensive fields of bare rubble are left behind, forming a scar of the landscape. Yet even here, new signs of life, are beginning to appear – in the form of delicate plants such as saxifrage and poppies.
JÜRG: The catastrophic recession of glaciers in the European Alps.
5. You’ve been a glaciologist most of your life. How did you get into it, and what drew you to this work in the first place?
MICHAEL: As a teenager, I became keen on fell-walking, particularly in the English Lake District and Snowdonia, both of which have fine landscapes fashioned during the Ice Age. Both areas were accessible from Manchester where I was at university. Inevitably, I then wanted to learn about real glaciers, so when the opportunity arose, following graduation, to undertake a glaciology PhD in northern Norway under the supervision of Wilfred Theakstone, I jumped at the chance. It was a tough assignment, however, as the weather was so poor, with constant gales, rain and snow, but I always remember my external examiner saying “If you are daft enough to work on a Norwegian glacier, you deserve a PhD!”.
That experience did not put me off, so when a research position came along at ETH Zürich soon after (in 1974) to work with Professor Fritz Müller and Dr Geoffrey Milnes on Swiss Alpine glaciers, I was fortunate to get it. Here, I met Jürg Alean, and since that time we have written several books and spent a lot of time in the field together.
A change of tack followed my three years in Zürich, when I had the chance to join the famous Arctic geologist at the University of Cambridge, Brian Harland, who put me onto the task of collating ancient glaciations around the world, and undertaking fieldwork on Precambrian glacial rocks in Svalbard and Greenland. This meant that I was able to apply my knowledge of glacial processes to understanding the geological record.
Since that time my research has alternated between modern glacial processes and the geological record of glaciation, including testing the imaginative ‘Snowball Earth’ hypothesis of global glaciation. Later, while employed to teach geology and physical geography at Liverpool John Moores University and Aberystwyth University, I have had the fortune to work in many glaciated regions of the world. Here, the attraction has been the magnificent scenery, the serenity and peace one finds there, the interaction with the plants and animals that live on the edge of survival, and the fellowship of scientists all seeking to unravel the mysteries of our wonderful planet.
JÜRG: I have been a part time glaciologist. As a student, I assisted Mike in some fieldwork on Griesgletscher, central Switzerland. This got me “hooked” on glaciers. Later on, my Professor (Fritz Müller, then of McGill University Montreal and ETH Zürich) facilitated my first expeditions to the Canadian Arctic. Leafing through Our Frozen Planet, and looking at photos of glaciers and landscapes of Axel Heiberg Island, will perhaps make my obsession with that island understandable!
If this post has piqued your interest, you’ll be pleased to hear that Our Frozen Planet is out now and available for purchase – just in time for Christmas! All available purchase links can be found here
Food Planet Future – 5 questions with the author...
We had the opportunity to sit down with Robert Dash, the author of Food Planet Future, to delve into the urgent yet inspiring themes of his book. In this interview, Robert shares some of the moments that shaped his work, the crucial connections between food systems and climate change, and practical steps we can all take to support a sustainable future. Here are five thought-provoking questions with the creative mind behind this book.
1. Why does the world need this book?
Awe, wonder, and creativity are essential to address grim issues like climate change and biodiversity loss. Enchantment with nature connects us and inspires our stewardship. Food Planet Future combines art and the latest research to show how our diets and the way we grow our food can have a positive impact on these problems. Motivation to change is driven more by success than by dread.
2. What’s the most fascinating thing that you’ve learnt while writing this book?
Land use, or misuse, is a major climate change driver, sharing the blame with the burning of fossil fuel. Restoration of cropland soils, forests, grasslands, and wetlands can help regulate water cycle and climate patterns.
3. Which of the extracts or spreads from the book are your personal favourite? Why?
I made the olive leaf micrograph on pages 134-135 after a long day working on the scanning electron microscope. I was exhausted and ready to leave when I got my first look at the leaf. I was stunned by its textures and patterns, and ended up losing all track of time while I made a micro panorama from dozens of individual files. Here was awe and wonder that utterly transported me; an experience that underlies nearly every page of the book.
4. Who or where do you get your inspiration from?
I’m floored by Earth’s beauty and mystery. It’s my duty to protect what I dearly love. A visionary such as Paul Hawken, founder of Project Drawdown and Regeneration.org, is a great role model.
5. You’re highlighting that we’re entering a food and climate crisis. A lot of people reading your work will want to know what they can do at home – what do you suggest?
Connect deeply with nature, and explore how agriculture can honour or degrade what you love. Learn from superb groups such as regeneration.org and foodprint.org (USA). Eat less meat. Vote for leaders and policies which promote regenerative agriculture. Beware of hype and quick fixes. Seek out good work that’s already happening, improve it where possible, and spread the word. And don’t give up.
