First released in 1910, "The Birth of a Flower" is an early wildlife documentary film by the pioneering British film-maker Frank Percy Smith (1880-1945). generally known as Percy.

Smith worked for the British Board of Education, and originally conceived his films as a teaching aid, but soon realised that he wanted to work without the constraints this imposed. He first reached the attention of his peers with a remarkable image of a bluebottle's tongue, and a series of films followed, using techniques that are familiar to us today, but were pioneering and experimental then, such as time-lapse photography. One of his most famous films was "The Birth of a Flower". In fact, this film showed a plethora of flowers, including narcissi, hyacinths, and crocuses. He was so dedicated to his art that he even installed a device to wake him, should anything go wrong with the filming while he slept.

His films also included "The Acrobatic Fly" and the somewhat anthropomorphised but still remarkable exploits of Bertie the Bee.

During the First World War, he served as a war photographer, capturing very different, but arresting images.

The iconic present-day wildlife documentary maker David Attenborough has acknowledged his debt to Smith.

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