Radiant Plants

Photograms by Ken Schaefer

Artist-naturalist-groundskeeper Ken Schaefer uses a simple technique to see the native species of northeastern Illinois in a whole new way.

In 1991, Ken Schaefer began working with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County to jointly restore 55 acres of natural habitat on the Des Plaines campus of Oakton Community College and 60 acres at nearby Kloempken Prairie. In those 15 years, Schaefer, Oakton’s campus groundskeeper, has helped bring back the health and natural character of the woods, prairie, and wetland, constantly learning about the plants he’s worked to save—357 native species at last count. Schaefer originally came to the area to be an artist, and he’s made "photograms" of everyday objects for years. He enjoys the simplicity and directness of the process: In a darkroom, he arranges a found object on a piece of photo paper, exposes it to light, and then processes it as one would any photo. But at some point it became clear that the “everyday objects” he interacted with most were the plants in the habitats he was restoring. Over three years, he made photograms of about 300 species.

Art from Restoration

Schaefer’s project is rooted in the land’s restoration. Working at Oakton has shown him how removing invasive brush and conducting controlled burns ensures the survival of the species he works with. “We have very nice remnant populations of trout lily,” says Schaefer of this early woodland bloomer. “We used to have masses of leaves but no flowers; but now, there’s lots of blooms and they’re producing seed, which means they’re getting enough light. That’s the whole thing, whether they’re able to reproduce.” The disappearance of another plant, white trillium, prompted the construction eight years ago of a nine-foot-tall fence around a section of woods, to protect against deer browsing. “The first year,” says Schaefer, “only 13 bloomed, but now for three straight years, there are over 1,000 blooming. There are no trilliums outside the exclosure.”

Simply Seeing

When people see a plant in the wild, or even a photo of it, they’ve got a lot of information to process. The photograms simplify the story, says Schaefer, directing the viewer’s attention to more specific qualities, such as form and opacity. “You see strange little flower parts without distraction of color and background, and it just exposes things a little differently. You never know what you’re going to get with each one.”

In the image of arrowhead, veins emerge, showing where light shined through. “There’s a remnant population of arrowhead on campus,” says Schaefer. “It moves around in this natural drainage down to the river.” The image of Dutchman’s breeches [right] shows the plant’s finely segmented leaves. Note the “Dutchmen,” standing sideways along the stem, two of them apparently conspiring against the others.

Nature’s Creativity

Does anyone see an Alexander Calder mobile here? Or the dramatic “wings” of the Milwaukee Art Museum? One is prompted to ask, how much art is inspired, directly or indirectly, by the raw material of nature? Though Schaefer barely manipulates his “found objects” in the photograms, the plants often express something that seems consciously artistic.

On a walk through the woods, casual observers might hardly notice Solomon’s seal. But note the row of flowers hanging down below. Ordinarily hidden, they’re a great way to tell Solomon’s seal from the otherwise-similar false Solomon’s seal, which displays its flowers prominently at the tip of the plant. (The story naturalists use to remember the difference is that the wise King Solomon would keep his gold well-hidden, and a pretender to the throne would show it off.)

Rooted in Place

Schaefer’s project almost couldn’t have been done anywhere else. “I had to rush the plants into Oakton’s darkroom,” he says, “because within five minutes, the petals wilted to pieces.” That enforced spontaneity made the project very site-specific—how many other places have a darkroom so close to 300 wild plant species?

Obedient plant rarely looks so symmetrical in nature. What’s “obedient” about it is that its flowers stay in the various places that wind (or people’s fingers) put them. “I’m getting it to grow in other areas,” says Schaefer, “spreading seed around.”

The artist points out that he carefully followed all laws (including not collecting in the forest preserve) and his project had a negligible impact on the plant community. The plants he used came from well-established campus populations that volunteers seeded themselves.

Community Values

“The administrators and the community gave the restoration so much support,” says Schaefer. “They created my position—naturalist-groundskeeper—and we have 55 acres of natural areas. It’s cool that they saw fit to do this. They understand the need.” He’s eager to put his photograms—and by extension the native ecosystem (including red bulrush)—in front of a wider audience. “I want to get people to look at it and understand it,” he says, “in order to go out and save it.”

More than 100 of Ken Schaefer’s forb, grass, sedge, rush, shrub, and tree photograms will be on display at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum from February 9 through April 13. Call (733) 755-5100 for more information. See more photograms online.