VIEWS OF NATURE (ANSICHTEN DER NATUR), 2024 - 2025

In his series Views of Nature (2024-2025), De Rode explores the eponymous travelogues of 19th-century naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), who is considered to be the father of ecology. Being a product of Romanticism while simultaneously laying the foundation of a scientific discipline, Humboldt becomes a personification of De Rode's personal exploration of the interplay of reason and feeling in human perception. Using excerpts of Humboldt's travelogues as both titles and starting points for the works, De Rode reinterprets his words while embarking on a personal exploration.

The cyanotype - often used as a mere tool for documentation in 19th-century botany - allows for a counter-narrative. Through toning the cyanotypes with a variety of natural tannins, the series acquires an earthly character that mirrors the natural world while aiming to spark a sense of wonder and mysticism through their subject matter and pictorialism. Aiming for balance in reason and feeling, Views of Nature (2024-2025) reflects Humboldt's plea for sensibility as a potential antidote to modern day alienation.



"Nature must be experienced with feeling”, Humboldt wrote to Goethe. Scientists who'd describe the world exclusively by classifying plants, animals and rocks would “never really get to know her”.