For our second Photography brief we are required to create a triptych composed of three, still-life photographs that we have taken of items that have been found by us. Before even thinking about the kind of thing to go for, I decided to do some research on still-life photographers online and see which ones inspired me.

Still life Photography followed on from Still-Life paintings, which featured, mostly exuberant yet aesthetically-boring objects painted together to cement them in artwork. As the majority of Still-life paintings were created before things such as planes, to witness an exotic fruit (a pineapple, for example) together with a British apple would have captured the imagination of a painter altogether. This changed slightly with the introduction of photography into the genre….

Edward Weston

Edward Weston was an American Photographer and is often cited as one of ‘the masters of 20th century photography’. He often found great beauty within natural objects he found in his garden and in the wildlife around him, and would spend days photographing the same objects again and again until he felt he perfectly captured their beauty. Photos like the famous ‘Pepper No. 30′ (1930) evokes an almost feminine figure in my head, with the creases and curves of the skin resembling that of an interlocked woman – despite the fact that the photo is of a pepper. Whilst the lettuce photograph beside it, despite being recognisable as lettuce brings across images of long, interconnected strands of hair upon a head keeping in with the theme of beauty.

Weston’s power to make objects appear as other, such more alive beings fascinates me and is definitely something I’m going to try and create within my images.

 

Irving Penn

Irving Penn was an American Photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits and still life images (in which he mostly focused on metallic objects and discarded items he found). Like Weston, these metallic still life images were often monochrome against a dark or industrial backdrop, though in Penn’s case this is mostly due to the relevance to the objects in the foreground of the image. His other photographs however prove more playful and witty, with animal remains such as lobster  tails and crab claws being utilised to create fluid patterns and shapes that lead into the next object nicely. It’s this playful tone with the objects that I also wish to try when experimenting with my images.

Marcel Christ

Marcel Christ utlises special effects work within his photography to create purposeful sequences to be captured mid-movement. ‘Nothing happens by accident’ he says, as every still life image he creates is so bursting with colour and fluid movement that it instantly comes to life before your eyes making it unlike any still life images I have ever seen before. Whilst this is something that I will be unable to do in my first foray into Still Life Photography, it’s something that I’d look into trying after seeing the dynamic work Christ creates.