Published in 1984, Herbarium is one of the most significant early works by Joan Fontcuberta and remains a landmark in the history of the photobook. The first edition is particularly important as it introduced many of the conceptual concerns that would later define the artist’s career, including the construction of truth, the authority of images, and the relationship between photography and belief.
The book presents a series of black-and-white photographs depicting what appear to be botanical specimens documented with scientific precision. At first glance, the images resemble the plates found in traditional botanical studies, complete with carefully isolated subjects and an objective visual style. However, the plants are entirely fictional. Fontcuberta assembled them from discarded objects, fragments of everyday materials, wires, plastics, and industrial debris, transforming ordinary items into convincing yet impossible species.
Drawing inspiration from the visual language of scientific photography, the project deliberately adopts the conventions of taxonomy and natural history. Through meticulous image-making and presentation, Herbarium creates a persuasive illusion of authenticity while simultaneously revealing how easily photography can generate credibility. The viewer is encouraged to question not only the images themselves but also the systems of knowledge that surround them.
The photobook is remarkably coherent in its execution. Rather than relying on narrative, it develops its ideas through accumulation, allowing each photograph to reinforce the fiction while deepening the conceptual framework of the project. The restrained design of the first edition contributes significantly to the experience, echoing the appearance of an academic or scientific publication and strengthening the tension between fact and fabrication.
More than four decades after its publication, Herbarium remains strikingly relevant. Long before the emergence of digital image manipulation and artificial intelligence, Fontcuberta was already exploring how photographs can be used to construct alternative realities and challenge accepted truths. As a result, the book stands not only as an important conceptual artwork but also as one of the defining photobooks of the 1980s.
Today, the 1984 first edition is regarded as a key title within Joan Fontcuberta’s bibliography, representing an essential moment in the evolution of contemporary photographic thought and the photobook as a conceptual medium.