Lorenzo Vitturi (b. 1980, Italy) is a photographer and sculptor based in London. Formerly a cinema set painter, Vitturi has brought this experience into his photographic practice, which revolves around site-specific interventions at the intersection of photography, sculpture and performance. In Vitturi’s process, photography in conceived as a space of transformation, where different disciplines merge together to represent the complexities of changing urban environments.
Vitturi’s latest solo exhibitions have taken place at FOAM Museum in Amsterdam, The Photographers’ Gallery in London, at Contact Photography Festival in Toronto, and at the CNA in Luxembourg. Vitturi also participated to group exhibitions in Rome, at Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, at La Triennale in Milan, at the Shanghai Art Museum and at K11 Art Space in Shanghai, and at BOZAR in Brussels.
Following the presentation of Dalston Anatomy in 2013 as a book, multi-layered installations and performance, Vitturi’s latest photo-book ‘Money Must Be Made’ was published by SPBH Editions in September 2017.
Dalston Anatomy:
Dalston Anatomy is a book project, a multi-layered installation, and a visual celebration of the Ridley Road Market in East London. Lorenzo Vitturi recognised the market as a unique place where ‘different cultures merge together in a celebration of life, diversity and unstoppable energy’ and was inspired to capture this place before it transformed beyond recognition.Residing in the area for over seven years, Vitturi visited the market daily and witnessed the local community, economy and the very nature of the market changing around him with striking acceleration. From this complicated process of transformation stems Vitturi’s compulsion to collect and picture the objects found at the market.
The objects were left to rot, manipulated with pigment or deconstructed and then rearranged in compositions and photographed against discarded market materials before and after their collapse. The ephemeral nature of these sculptures mirrors the impermanent nature of the market itself, while the reconstruction and placement of these totem-objects in the exhibition space reflects on constant cycles of production, destruction and recreation.
The Jersey War tunnels, Also known as the German underground hospital is a tunnel complex located within the hills of St Peters Valley, Jersey. Known to the Germans as Hohlgangsalase 8, The purpose of the tunnels was as a Military hospital, Ordnance and ammunition storage as well as an air raid shelter. The word Hohlgangalase translates to Cave passage installations and HO8 was part of a wide network of tunnels across the Island, With the only complete tunnel being HO5, Loacted in St Aubins and now used to store the Le Petit Train and home to the Jersey indoor shooting club.
HO8 was constructed by organisation Todt originally as a large scale air raid shelter which would link up to other tunnel systems in the area such as HO2 and create a vast underground fortress to be used by the Germans in the event of allied invasion. However, later in the war, HO8 was converted into a hospital and it had fully functioning electricity, heating and running water. The facility has over 1km worth of tunnels with various rooms and sections such as barracks, Gas proof doors and ventilation systems as well as a fully functioning operating theater.
The tunnel was constructed by forced laborers. These were typically Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war whom were housed in work camps in the island. Conditions among these prisoners were so poor that many died of malnutrition, exhaustion and disease. Many workers in the tunnels were also crushed to death during the creation of the tunnels by rockfalls or beaten to death by soldiers of Organization Todt. Many workers died in the tunnels during their construction.
After the Liberation of the Channel islands, Many of the HO tunnel systems were used for the storage of German equipment such as guns, tanks and barbed wire by the British forces sent over to the island to help clean up the traces of the War. During the Scrap metal drive of the 1950s, The vast majority of Tunnels were completely cleared and many sealed off. In 1962, Two schoolboys were exploring HO2 looking for souvenirs. They sadly died due to high levels of Carbon Monoxide deep inside the tunnels
in 1946 HO8 was opened to the public and owned by the states of Jersey, However a lawsuit soon followed from the owner of the land above and the lawsuit was successful and ownership was returned to the landowner, Who converted it into a museum with many genuine artifacts and features from the war and the Museum remains open to this day
Images
An Authentic Nazi Automatic pistol on display in HO8. I like this image due to the red background, representative of blood and evil, with the lighting giving the image a dark feelClose up of an Authentic occupation Era typewriter. I personally like the whites of the letters as they stand out and look bold in an overall dark image.Authentic German officer uniform jacket on display at HO8. Note the Iron cross and Nazi eagle emblems. This isn’t a particularly good image in my opinion as there is a lot of glass glare, meaning A series of German daggers on display at the Jersey War Tunnels. On two of the central daggers hilts are the Nazi eagle emblem. Once again on a red background, representative of evil and blood, giving deep context to the image
Emile Guiton was a prominent Jersey photographer born in 1879. Throughout his career he was responsible for documenting Island Life as well as helping to found the Societe Jersaie photo archive, where He served on the executive committee as a joint honorary secretary and he was also the curator of the museum and the editor of their annual bulletin
Guiton noticed throughout his life that history was changing dramatically on the island and he therefore set out to document this historical change in as much detail as possible. He was one of the first early photographers to experiment with auto chrome color.
Auto Chrome Lumiere
Auto Chrome Lumiere is one of the earliest methods of colour photography and was patented in 1903 by the french Lumiere Brothers. It was the main means of capturing images in colours before the development of coloured film in the early 1930s. The original creator of Auto chrome was another french photographer called Louis Ducos Du Haron.He was the first known photographer to experiment with the technique of colour additives.
Auto Chrome Process
The Auto Chrome Process involves a glass plate, which is covered on one side by a random pattern of microscopic grains of dyed potato starch, The grains consist of red-orange, Green and blue-violet colors, Similar to the RGB of red green and blue primary colors found in the visual processors of many modern day computer screens. These colored grains of starch essentially act as colour filters, while lampblack, a type of dark material created from the incomplete combustion of fuel materials such as coal and oil, Fills the gaps while a black and white panchromatic silver halide emulsion is coated on the top as a layer.
The Auto chrome would then be loaded into the camera with the glass side of the slide facing the Lens, Meaning the light passed through the Mosaic colour layer before reaching the emulsion. An orange filter was used in the camera to block out ultra violet light as the emulsion was very sensitive to purple and blue colours. Autochromes required a long exposure time, so therefore they were not suitable for photographing moving subjects
Early Auto Chrome Images
This image of a french police officer sat at a water pump in a french cobbled street was taken by a photographer employed by Albert Kahn. Kahn sent out 50 photographers armed with auto chrome cameras across the globe to photograph subjects such as the collapse of the Ottoman-Hungarian empire, The last traditional Celtic villages in Ireland and events of the early stages of the first world war. I like the image as it has a minimal amount of colour on a whole, which makes us focus more on the key element of the police officer in the foreground. I also find that the low saturation gives off quite a solemn feel, especially due to the fact that this photograph was taken in the early days of the first world warHere is another early autochrome. This image depicts a late 19th/ early 20th century car. At this time, cars were extremely expensive and seen as a luxury that only the upper class had access to. It is highly likely that this photograph was commissioned by the owners of the car. The range of colour that the autochrome could pick up is highlighted well in this image, with a vast mix of blues and greens along with some redsThis image originates from early 20th century America and is a photograph of a group of young children stood watching through the bars of an elephant enclosure in a zoo. What strikes me about this image is the vibrance and range of colour on display in terms of the outfits of the children as well as the background greens of the trees and clues of the skies
Emile Guitons Works
Below are some autochrome works produced by Guiton. He mainly chose to picture flowers as he found these a great way to showcase the colour and beauty of nature as well as the fact that they were non moving subjects
In preparation for this photo shoot I looked back at Sian Davey’s candid photography, in order to reflect on the techniques she used, so that I can implement her approach into my work. I wanted half to be highly staged, more like an environmental form, family portrait, and half naturalistic in order to showcase a true representation of my family, following more of a candid form of documentation photography. My camera setting where kept similar to the detail shot photo shoot, due to the shoots occurring on the same day. used the AV setting, allowing me to focus on the aperture and depth of field. On the day these photographs were taken, the lighting was dull, but well lit, which meant that I used a low ISO. My f number stayed on 5.6, unless the room itself was much darker. The shutter speed was set on a quick setting and the white balance was set to the day light setting. In order for further control I used manual focus, allowing me to control the depth of field and the overall composition.
Edits:
First Edit – Flagged
Second Edit – Star Rating
Third Edit – Colour Rating
Colour:
For my colour edits, I wanted the outcomes to be kept as naturalistic as possible, so I ensure that the detail and structure was not over the top, creating soft outcomes, focusing on the conceptual reasoning, family love, to be presented within my imagery. I explored with adjusting the white and blacks and shadows in order to create outcomes which still presented tonal contrast, allowing the colours and environment and subjects to be the focus of the composition. I am pleased with the way in which these outcomes have turned out, due to me keeping the editing simple, to capture the naturalism of the photographs.
Black and White:
For my black and white outcome, I explored with an image which uses a birds eye view angle. The tonal contrast and new angle allows the conceptual meaning to be presented in a new way, which showcases this further exploration as successful. The photograph follows a candid style of photography, and presents my three subjects, with one looking at the camera, implementing an environmental stylistic feature to my work. The composition uses the rule of thirds, allowing viewers eyes to be guided around the frame. The formal element of space plays an active role with the outcome. In the frame there seems to be a lack of empty space, thus my models are in close proxemics to one another, which emphasise the conceptual representation of family love and bonding within the work. The background, is kept simplistic with not much going on showcasing my families naturalistic environment.
Technically, the photograph uses a small aperture, due to the the whole frame being in focus. The ISO used is low which is shown through there being no noise being created. This also allows us to understand that natural lighting produced by the daylight was used to capture this, and informs us that the white balance has colour accuracy and that it presents a sense of warmth, adding to the overall pleasant mood to the piece. In addition, the shutter speed is quick, due to no interned blur being presented within the outcome.
In order to achieve all of this, I kept the editing simplistic. I turned the photograph black and white and focused mainly on adjusting the black, white, shadows and contrast sliders in order to create the overall photograph.
Evaluation:
To evaluate I believe I have produced strong photographs which clearly showcases my understanding of ‘Establishing a shot’ and the ability to use candid photography in order to produce naturalistic outcomes, which explores a narrative within my work. I have reinforced my ability to have control over manual settings and shown my competence of using Lightroom in order to edit my photographs. Although I have produced strong imagery, I do not believe it is as successful as the detail shot photo shoot. However, the imagery still produced has an clear overall aesthetic and shows exploration into the home sweet home briefing.
When going about this photoshoot I kept in mind the technique the Martin Parr used when he captured detailed/macro photography, in order to create an effective outcome which can hold a lot of conceptual meaning. On top of this, I also took inspiration from the mood board created on the previous blog post, in order to create new ways and approaches of capturing this style of photography. When capturing this set of photographs I used the AV setting, allowing me to focus on the aperture and depth of field, an important feature for macro style photography. On the day these photographs were taken, the lighting was dull, but well lit, which meant that I used a low ISO. My f number stayed on 5.6, unless the room itself was much darker. The shutter speed was set on a quick setting and the white balance was set to the day light setting. In order for further control I used manual focus, allowing me to control the depth of field and the overall composition.
Edits:
First Edit – Flagged
Second Edit – Star Rating
Third Edit – Colour Rating
Colour Edits:
For my colour edits I tried to explore with making the colours vibrant and over the top, to create a similar outcome as Parr. In order to do this I increased the contrast, vibrance, white and blacks. Although this worked well, I did not think that it was justifying my work, so I decided to edit them normally, as if it was a normal portrait, in order to allow the detail to clearly be showcased. To do this I subtly moved the sliders in order to correct the imagery until I gained my desired effect. I believe my colour outcomes are successful as they clearly showcase the formal elements of colour, texture, space and shape, which enables the macro photographs to meet the briefing and showcase my implementation of Parr’s work within mine.
Black and White:
Experimenting in black and white; I was a little skeptical at first as all my inspiration did not use black and white imagery to present the macro photograph. I then decided to go ahead with this idea, because I knew it would show exploration outside of my research. In order to achieve this effect, I set the image to black and white and mainly focused on adjusting the black, white, contrast, structure and shadow sliders in order to create the outcome below. I am happy that I experimented with black and white, as I believe that this is my strongest outcome from the photoshoot, with my reasoning for this being explained in an analysis of my work below.
Visually, we are presented with a landscape macro photograph of a models mouth, who is smiling showing her teeth. The frame is 3/4 full, with a sense of space on the left of the frame, presenting the technique of rule of thirds bring utilised in this outcome. The main focus point is the teeth, due to it being the area most in focus, which informs us that a large depth of field has been used when capturing the photograph. The photograph presents the formal elements of space, texture, shape and tone, which is being shown through the detail of the lower half of the models face. The photograph is presented in black and white which allows a clear tonal contrast to be showcased, making the imagery even stronger. The background is black, which enables our attention to be focused on the foreground, the face of the model, allowing the conceptual representation of happiness within a family to be clearly presented.
Technically, the photograph uses a medium aperture, due to the narrow depth of field being utilised in order to allow the focus to be on the mouth and teeth. The ISO used is low which is shown through there being no noise being created. This also allows us to understand that natural lighting produced by the daylight was used to capture this, and informs us that the white balance has colour accuracy and that it presents a sense of warmth, adding to the overall pleasant mood to the piece. In addition, the shutter speed used to capture this macro photograph was quick sue to no intended blur being presented in the overall composition.
Evaluation:
To evaluate this photo shoot, I believe that it was more successful than the previous home sweet home shoot, due to me producing stronger imagery, through more control over my camera settings. I have been able to show my competence with macro photography, as well as showing my ability to use manual focus in order to create depth of field and put different features in focus for effect. I have also shown my ability to take inspiration and implement it into my work, on top of adding my own artist style to show further exploration within my imagery. I believe that my overall outcomes are successful due to high control in my camera settings, and quality editing, making my work have a clear overall aesthetic.
Francis Foot was born in 1855. In his early years he was a gas fitter, but he later developed an interest in photography and so much so that his family purchased a shop in pitt street, where they represented UK record retailer HMV. The logo is still painted on the exterior of the shop today. He then went on to have 4 children, George, Stanley, Dora and Reg.
Francis’ photography was published as postcards and many of his images and films have been curated by the Societe Jersaie Archive for historical purposes. His video portfolio provides video of aircraft landing on the beach in St Aubins bay, St Helier Harbour and Shipwrecks around the island
Below are some examples of Francis’ work
The Smith family, Taken around 1909. A traditional family portrait which features themes of hierarchy due to the arrangement of the family. The assumed father of the smith family sits central, With his son next to him and daughter in front of him sat on the floor. His wife sits aside his son whilst the members standing in the backdrop could either be extended family such as aunties cousins etc, Or could be maids and servants that are essentially considered part of the family
The weighbridge taken from pier road, Much different from the waterfront known by all today. The row of buildings opposite the sea wall are today a major financial hub as seen in Lewis bush’s work below. This image is particularly important in terms of historical change as this image was taken just a few years before the idea of land reclamation came into play and started to be developed upon.
Contemporary Artist Study: Lewis Bush
Lewis Bush is a British photographer whom recently did an arch isle photographic residency In Jersey. he is 31 years of age. However he started life on a very different route to photography, Working as a consultant researcher for the United Nations AIDS/HIV Task force, Tasked with researching potential cures and solutions to the AIDS/HIV Crisis. In 2012, Bush decided to focus on his own photo graphical works and projects, and one of his main focuses was to draw attention to various invisible powers throughout the world and photograph them and what they entail.
Lewis was recently in Jersey as part of the Archisle International Photographer in Residencey project, Where artists from all over the world spend a 6 month period in Jersey curating projects with an insight into island life whether that be past or present or even future. Bush created a project named “Trading Zones” which focused upon the finance industry in Jersey and the power within it. Bush found that the power of the finance industry could either positively ro negatively affect the lives of many millions of people and therefore set out to photograph this unapparent power at work.
Bush takes quite an interesting approach to the project, By using architectural drawings and building plans throughout the project, Highlighting various Sectors within the finance industry and many metaphorical features of it
Bush’s Work
In this image, Bush has curated aerial photographs of offices opposite liberation bus station. He includes the companys and corporations occupying the buildings as well as the branches and divisions of such companies. I personally like this image as it gives off a sense of dominance in terms of the amount of financial office space and it also has a military observational aesthetic to it, with the listings of the buildings and the aerial imagery This image depicts many corner structures of various financial offices/ Buildings, Such as the RBC building and Nat-west International bank. Bush is good at highlighting that some of the offices, Such as the one in the top right, are actually historical buildings that have been modernized and brought into present day by the inclusion of Glass and steel girders to give the building a modern and professional lookAnother interesting piece of work from Bush is this Image of a public telescope on ST Catherines Breakwater. The image is titled “Hong Kong, 9896km”. This image is powerful in representation of the international influence of Jerseys finance sector as the Island has ties with many banks and industries within Hong Kong, itself a major finance capital. What is more interesting is the telescope looking out to see, Almost as if it is making contact with and directing the viewer towards Hong Kong as this image was taken on Jerseys east coast
Polish photographer Rafal Milach set out to develop a project that would combine the individuals who lived through the communist era post WW2 (in which Poland was a part of Soviet rule), and the children’s strikes of 1902, in which Catholic school students objected to the Germinization of their education. Milach incorporated objects found in education (specifically maths equipment) with archival images of when Poland was invaded by the Germans, and in doing so emphasized the stark contrast between the childish innocence of simply wanting an education, with the reality that the education system and children were severely affected by the German invasion.
“The initial idea of working with the archive was sustained, but the topic changed as I began looking for material that could occupy two spheres – discipline and pacification, and the sphere of freedom – and to bring these elements together in a series of collages.”
In the above quote, Milach discusses how he was able to bring the 2 contrasting themes of peace (children) and war (occupation).
Milach published his photo-book, The First March of Gentleman, and used bold eye-catching colours (associated with children and children’s artwork) in order to show the contrast between the reality of the archival images, and the concept of the book itself. Milach added a string to the book that had to be physically unwound in order to open it; this added a sense of interactivity to the book, and the string (when wound) can be used to represent bars, caging in the subjects:
The book is bound by string, presenting a metaphor for how the inhabitants of Poland were trapped by the invading forces of the Germans
Milach makes use of space to draw maximum attention to the subjects and concepts in the foreground.
Here, Milach makes a statement by placing children in the foreground, curious towards the boldly coloured pyramids, and German soldiers stand watching over them in the background.
Milach makes use of space in his images, as the bold colours in the background still act as part of the image, drawing attention of the viewer, and the use of space draws maximum attention to the archival images laced between the objects.
I will be taking inspiration from Milach, and will be designing my own photo-montages that will reflect the feelings of confinement and hopelessness that covered Jersey during the occupation, and in general, Europe during WWII.
Autochrome colour photography was developed in 1903 by the Lumiere brothers in France, and involved the process of creating a filter from placing tiny starch potato grains onto a sheet of glass, and dying them red, blue and green (with black charcoal being used to fill in the gaps between the colours), before coating the entire sheet with an emulsion. The 3 primary colours, when subjected to light, would create a range of different colours which would reflect the accurate colours of a real life object. In order to counteract the blue sensitivity of the emulsion, the exposures were made using a yellow filter, giving the final image it’s distinctive slightly yellow tone.
Source: Anon, Couple with a motor car, c.1910, auto-chrome, notice the slightly yellow undertones caused by the yellow filter. Source: Baron de Meyer, Flower study, 1908, autochrome – this image is a reflection of the type of subjects that were often used in the early days of auto-chrome photography, including fruits, flowers and vases.
The first colour image taken in Jersey was produced by the founding father of Societe Jersiaise, Emile F. Guiton, in 1904. Guiton was an enthusiastic amateur photographer, and made use of the newly developed Autochrome technique to produce coloured images of vases, flowers and fruits.
Emile F. Guiton, early 1900’s – this auto-chrome is an experimentation by Guiton to look into the ways colour interacts within an image.
The ability for photographers to take coloured autochrome images was revolutionary, and many people commented on the depth of the images along with the vibrance of the colours. in 1908, the Photographic News was quoted as saying:
“when the effect of relief is joined to a life-like presentation in colour the effect is quite startling in its reality. It is not easy to imagine what the effect of anything of this kind would have been on our ancestors and witchcraft would have been but a feeble, almost complimentary term, for anything so realistic and startling“
This quote reflects the opinions of photographers towards the development of the auto-chrome, and allows for us to grasp an understanding of how revolutionary it was that photographers could now take images and photographs in colour that almost perfectly reflected real life. A huge difference from the common black and white photography.
Still life images is a work of art that where the subject of the image is either natural (food, flowers, animals, plants, etc) or man-made (glasses, books, jewelry, etc). Still life allows artists to have a lost of freedom and to experiment and rearrange objects of the image.
Many of the first and original idea of still life paintings are found in the ancient Egyptian tombs and monuments. These paintings give an insight to the life and events happening during these times. But also images drawn in the tombs of those who had died, had objects drawn so they could take them to the afterlife and have. The drawings weren’t a piece of artwork for the Egyptians they had a functioning purpose in their beliefs. The images on the walls are known as relief’s which is a drawing/painting carved into the walls, normally in the colors; blue, black, red, green and gold.
Egyptian painting
Along with the Egyptians, cavemen also use to draw onto the walls and ceilings of their caves, they did this up to 40,000 years ago. Their paintings include simple shapes, such as large wild animals (horses, deer, bison) as these animals were hunted down by the cavemen as a source of nutrition. However, the drawings of humans were rare and and weren’t as detailed as the drawings of the animals. The images include pigments of red, yellow and charcoal or even by using rocks to indent the walls. It is said that some of the drawings were made by blowing pigment onto the wall through a homemade pipe of some sorts into the center and then being decorated by lines and dashes.
Cave painting
As we moved on through history, images began to develop, as equipment was invented. Still images started to become of flowers, flowers and fruit, breakfast pieces and more. This all came through from the Dutch Republic as they began to rise and create a national identity, they started to trade with the Indians and South Americans and the popularity of paintings grew, this opened up a whole new market. As this trade flung open, it began to introduce Dutch Artists of the 17th century, this is where still images portrayed inanimate objects.
Ambrosius Bosschaert was a Dutch still life painter, born in 1573. He specialised in painting flowers, along with his three other sons. The flowers he painted were symmetrical, with accuracy in the smallest parts of the paintings, sometimes containing symbolic and religious meaning. Bosschaert was one of the first to specialist in still life. A few of his images include.
His images are captivating, in the sense of the precision and the colours he uses are appealing to the human eye. The images showing bloomed flowers, they are at the best of their lives before they die. Bosschaert painted so many different images, but this image stood out to me;
This image holds so much colour and diversity that it catches the human eye, mainly due to the fact of the blue sky background with the multi coloured flowers. Some of the flowers in this image hold a religious value in the christian faith, such as the rose and lily’s in the image. A lily is said to represent the purity and divinity of Jesus, the flower is normally displayed during Easter as lily’s where said to of grew around where Jesus was crucified. It also represent the resurrection as a lily rise from a single bulb which represents Jesus rising from the tomb. Along with the rose representing purity and they are reminders of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. They are used to commemorate important events during Christ’s journey. This meaning that this image may have been painted during the easter time as a memory or to show respect, however in the bottom right corner there is a butterfly. Butterfly’s hold meanings, just like flowers but their meanings stand as the growth and change in life and on earth, that they have a journey of freedom, freedom for their past, they are breathtaking. With all this said the image can have a meaning of growing to your best, as the flowers are drawn at their highest point in their life, from a little bud to a bloomed, colourful flower, just like how the butterfly develops through its life of freedom. It is saying to grow to highest point in life and enjoy it.
Still-Life became an independent, and popular, genre of paintings in the early 1600’s, in Dutch and Northern Europe. This new form of Dutch art started to become renowned for being highly concerned with Khar (close scrutiny of the natural world). The objects showcased within the frame are considered symbolic of religion and morality which reflects the culture the artist is in. The symbolism is shown through different objects such as burnt candles, human skulls, dying flowers, fruits and vegetables, broken chalices, jewellery, crowns, watches, mirrors, bottles, glasses, vases and many more; these objects usually symbolise death, human life, power, beauty and wealth. As mentioned previous, still-life is the composed portray of objects, this topic was considered broad and the objects were soon condensed into sub categories, due to the object and the symbolic representation that the object holds.
Flower Piece
Culturally, many towns, such as Amsterdam; Utrecht, specified in flower pieces, which were highly regarded and the artists where well paid, which illuminates the socio-economic status of the towns which specialised in this form of still-life art. The flowers within the painting were realistic, but the arrangement of the flowers were not, some artists would place all four season flowers within one bouquet. Around the 1620’s this form of still-life was soon showcasing butterflies and snails, which evolved the symbolism of the imagery to showcase freed after death. The flowers themselves symbolised the language of flowers and a contemporary view: for example the Madonna lily , which was white, showcased purity and the Virgin Mary, outlining the importance of religion during this time.
Fruit and Flowers
Fruit could often be seen within a floral composition. Items such as oysters and mussels showcased the vanities overtones of the brevity life, and could sometimes be seen as the artists erotic implications. In addition, the fruit also has religious aspects such as an apply symbolising temptation and a grape showing the blood of christ.
Breakfast
This form of still-life imagery first came about in Haarlem and Amsterdam were the orientation of the canvas turned to landscape in order to accommodate the background of a table, having the table top reach from one edge to the other. The food used was simplistic, cheese, fruit and nuts, and often presented as half eaten to show realism within the art work. In early forms of this category the composition looked at the table from a birds eye view, however the view point has now been lowered.
Mila Vasileva
Vanitas Painting
This category showcased the ideology that we only live for a short time, and nothing lasts forever, raising societies awareness of death did not disappear with the end of the Twelve Year Truce (In 1620 the Republic suffered two major outbreaks of the bubonic plague). A reoccurring motif within this form is a skull, which symbolises death and mortality clearly to viewers. A sense of time can also be shown through hour glasses and watches, to represent the ideology that time is short.
Pieter Claesz
Curtain
Within this form lies two types of curtain painting: wrapped theatrical, pulled to one side and sometimes knotted up, and a curtain suspend from a rod above the window. The curtains where usually painted blue and green. This became popular as it represent the time period were the Dutch use to hide the still-life paintings behind curtains. This motif was originally showcased by Rembrandt who painted the ‘Holy Family’ in 1646.
Rembrandt ‘Holy Family’ 1646.
Letter Racks, Quodilbets, Cupboards and Peepshows
This motif was first presented and initiated by artist Samuel Hoogdtraten, were he painted a few red ribbons pinned onto a board containing snap shots of socially informative letters, this was entitled ‘The Letter Rack’. A quodlibet is latin for “what you like”, which used a letter rack showcasing a personal items such as combs, pens and bills. This form often had links with curtains, hiding the items behind creating a double meaning towards the final outcome.
Samuel Hoogdtraten ‘The Letter Rack’
Trompe L’Oeil with Hunting Equipment
Anthonie and Johannes Leemans developed a new specific composition to still-life. Within the imagery presented they did not focus on the hunting or the success, but the trapping and killing of the animals. This form of Trompe L’Oeil also showed the would-be hunting equipment ready to use.
Johannes Leemans
Pronk
As the 16th century continued the socio-economic status of cities increased, which mean that better equipment and paint could be purchased in order to produce higher quality work. The pigment of the paint was also high quality, lapis lazuli, allowing paintings such as silver wear, jugs and other items as such to be painted.
In the early 17th century the popularity of still-life paintings began it’s decrease, meaning the death of so many of the above categories of still-life. What did survive was the Dutch psyche: decorative hunting still life and the flower paintings, which are still be created through different media’s to this day.
Mood Boards Showcasing Contextual Examples of Still Life.
