It was within the cultural and intellectual orbit of Secessionist Vienna that Martin Gerlach published the portfoilio volume "Formenwelt aus dem Naturreiche" (A world of Forms from Nature) between 1902 and 1904. Combining photographs of plants and animals as well as photomicrographs in an unprecedented manner, the work in its choice of image sections and its manner of arranging them transformed scientific documents into the linear ornamentation of Jugendstil - which resulted in a model collection of a very special kind.

Born in Linz, Upper Austria in 1972, studied art history and history in Vienna. Curator at the Photographic Collection of the Albertina, Vienna since 2000. Publications on the history of photography in Austria with a focus on art photography around 1900. Lives in Vienna. 19791999 curator at the Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig in Vienna, from 1992 parttime lectureship at the University of Vienna, and from 1999 chief curator of the photographic collection at the Albertina. Numerous exibitions and publications with an emphasis on contemporary and historical photography.