Kosboroptika is essentially a photographic and educational inventory covering more than ten years, which I spent—at least most of my free time—studying and photoraphing orchids in Hungary, and later across Europe. This period encompasses both fieldwork—searching in nature, crawling around, and often lengthy and cumbersome photography—as well as the post-processing of the images at home, the seemingly endless hours hunched over the monitor. It also includes digging into specialized books, feverishly searching for information on various websites, and actively participating in Facebook groups.
My website is not a true fine-art photography site, and my images are not artistic per se (though occasionally they might be a little), nor were they created with that intention. My goal is simply to showcase— as faithfully as I can—the beauty and fascination of this remarkable plant family. And not just through my photos: I want Kosboroptika to go beyond being a simple gallery collection: besides the visual stimuli I want to provide knowledge I’ve gained autodidactically over the years, ideally in an informal, relaxed, and less academic—yet professionally accurate—narrative style. I do not allow myself an academic tone partly because I don’t hold a botany degree; I consider myself simply a nature enthusiast and photographer with a deeper-than-average interest in the subject. NOTE! An orchid confession: I am much more of a “splitter” than a “lumper,” though I view species proliferation critically, especially when it conflicts with my field experiences.
The backbone of the site is the species list, organized by Genera in a drop-down menu for easy browsing. Each genus and species has its own dedicated subpage. For each genus and species, there is a brief description—including information I consider most relevant—and a gallery of varying size (sometimes including videos). In the future, there will also be introductions to the most characteristic European orchid regions and countries, along with their species lists. Naturally, there is a Blog section, mainly featuring updates related to the site (new species descriptions and galleries being continuously added) as well as field news. And of course, there are other plans—such as making space for other interesting plant species—but the primary focus for me now is uploading the extensive European species list and the corresponding images.
I hope Kosboroptika is enjoyable browsing not only for “orchid enthusiasts” but also for the casual visitors who happen upon it—if nothing else, for the beautiful flowers. Anyone with opinions, comments, observations, or corrections regarding the site is welcome to reach out to me at kosboroptika@gmail.com.
Kalman Csirmaz