Still life photography is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. Similar to still life painting, it is the application of photography to the still life artistic style.

Historical context:

Still life derives from the Dutch word stilleven, coined in the 17th century when paintings of objects enjoyed immense popularity throughout Europe. The impetus for this term came as artists created compositions of greater complexity, bringing together a wider variety of objects to communicate allegorical meanings.

Still life painting reached a height of popularity in the Netherlands during the 17th century, when the market for small intimate paintings for domestic settings exploded. These images reflected the importance of religion to their owners and used a rich symbolic language to subtly convey complex moral and spiritual ideas. Flowers, fruit, and common household items were used to gently remind the viewer that life is short, death is certain, and any overindulgence in sensual earthly pleasures will be paid for in the afterlife. A still life conveys vanitas themes because we know that flowers fade, and candles burn out. They symbolise the shortness of life and are meant to remind the viewer that existence is meaningless without the hope of salvation.

Still-life painting:

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Still-life photography:

Still life photography is a form of professional photography that depicts inanimate objects or subject matters. Still life is a unique genre of photography. One thing that makes it so special is that often the subjects aren’t very interesting.

There are two different types of still-life photography which are found still-life and created still-life. Found still-life is photography that contains a combination of found subject, symbolic objects, and natural lighting. The visual message is concerned with the transitory nature of life, and the inevitability of death. However, created still-life is when a photographer creates an image with almost full control over lighting, mood, and composition. Because photographers directly influence the image creation process, still life photos reflect the creativity and style of the photographers themselves.

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Key Painting Analysis:

In this still-life painting created from 1620/21–1690 by Abraham van Beyeren it clearly displays multiple food items which symbolise the idea of ‘wealth’. The artist included a rich, red lobster which symbolises wealth and temptation with a fancy glass that shows the artist indulged in a life of luxury. The table shown is neatly lade boasting the luscious foods on display with a prosperous white and blue bowl. The glass could be used to reflect the richness off of the lobster to arrange the ideas of wealth throughout the collection of lavish items. The ideas of good luck and abundance have been presented through the grapes which are slightly hanging off the table meaning to always hold on due to the good luck. The painting has a great contrast between the black background and the dimmed items presented on the table. The use of the dark browns make the image have a dark tone and create a gloomy feeling towards the viewer.

EXPERIMENT #1

For my first experiment I am planning to create a joiner from my first photoshoot.

First I separated the images I took to create a joiner from the rest of my photos by changing the colour label to blue.

I then edited one image and synchronized the settings so all images were edited the same.

I then exported my images to Adobe photoshoot and made a joiner by clicking merge images and selecting images I wanted in my joiner.

The process was automated so I could not control what the final outcome looked like. I changed the colour of the background (seen below) to black.

The final outcome of this joiner is seen below

I quite like this experiment, especially how detached each image of the coast is, with the biggest image in the middle- drawing attention to it. The angles of the photos are interesting and present almost an optical illusion view contrasted against the sharp, straight lines of the edges of the image.

EXPERIMENT #2

I decided to create another joiner using the same process

This joiner was not as successful as the images separated and just became sharp fragments of pieces of the image.

EXPERIMENTATION #3

Instead of combining multiple images I decided to experiment using one image by changing it into a 3D image to decide if I should create a 3D joiner.

I did this by going on 3D; New mesh from layer; mesh pre-set; sphere where photoshop then merged my image into a sphere.

I then changed the background to black to get rid of the shadow as I believed it looked tacky and too fake.

I quite like this experimentation as the image looks almost like it was taken with a fisheye lens and looks slightly magnified- distorting the structure of the rock which makes the image look more interesting overall. I really like the way the middle of the image looks like a flower as the contrast between

EXPERIMENTATION #4

I wanted to explore by merging images to make a joiner, first I selected some images on Adobe Photoshop and superimposed them on top of each other.

I chose images which had a large contrast between shadows and light areas so the joiner would be more varied in colour

I believe this joiner is not successful as the image is too busy and there is not a large contrast in tones as the textures of the rocks are quite similar, meaning the image looks plain.

FINAL OUTCOMES

Overall I believe the two experiments below are the most successful and I plan to decide between them and display my final choice in an exhibition.

With the still life images, I arranged a group of rocks and other materials into a formation that I was happy with. Once this was achieved, I took a few photos of the items and decided to change the backdrops and boards they lay on.

A few of the photos taken consisted of a layout placed upon a table with coloured card and a white backdrop. This gave off quite a simple look to the photograph with a slight variation of colour change with the card underneath. The other range of photos were taken however on a much harder surface that was a lot more reflective than the card. It was fully white, but I was able to play around with the colour of the lighting by placing coloured plastic over the lights used. This provided a wide range of multicoloured photographs which were interesting to experiment with.

When taking my images, I ended up mainly taking flash head photographs of my still life displays and also continuous lighting photographs. I wanted to experiment with different lighting approaches so that I could get a variety of outcomes.

—- Continuous and flash head lighting —-

What is continuous lighting?

Continuous lighting in photography occurs when you turn the studio lights on, they stay on. You can power your studio lighting up or down, based on what you need, but they produce ‘what you see is what you get’ lighting.

Continuous lighting comes in different kinds, including incandescent, LED, fluorescent, tungsten and even plasma lights.

What is flash head lighting?

Flash heads, whether hooked up to a power pack or integrated into a monolight, generally feature an interchangeable reflector (bowl or dish) used to shape the light. More compact units may come with a built-in reflector. Interchangeable reflectors give photographers numerous options.

Contact sheets:

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Flagged photographs:

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Colour coded and star rated photographs:

Best images:

—- Still life photo-edits —-

Before and afters:

Black and white experiments:

Colour experiments:

Final outcomes + Image Analysis

I have chosen these three images as my first final outcomes as I believe they all compliment each-other well with each containing a variety of objects from the locations in Jersey we have visited. I wanted to display the history of Jersey through the items that can be found among the island and present its geology through the process of a still life photograph. Each image contains the same types of shells but they have all been laid out different and have been photographed at different angles. The first image displays a range of shells all across the photograph whilst the second image only showcases a select number of shells to really highlight a closeup view of what the object really looks like and what it presents for Jersey.

Although I like how these images turned out, I will say that I have a few critics to make about the three images taken. With the third image in particular, I am satisfied with how the image was taken and the angle it was taken at, but I think now that it would have looked a lot better with a similar coloured backdrop so that the shells are showcased a lot more obviously. Photographing them up against a light backdrop, takes away a little of the shells shape as it’s getting lost in a similar colour scheme to that of the backdrop.

For this image, once again I like how the final outcome turned out but I still believe that the image holds some weaknesses that could be improved in order to make the image much higher quality. I believe that the image is slightly blurry and the shadow isn’t as crisp and clear as I hoped it would be. I also think that the reflection of the image isn’t very reflective and shiny which is something else I would like to improve on.

Next time, I would aim to make the image just a bit sharper by possibly adjusting the lighting more and taking the images more slowly as for the camera to process the photographs taken.

Second photoshoot attempt

After doing my first photoshoot, I ended up revisiting the studio to take another selection of photographs to see if I could possibly improve a bit more with taking still life images.

Contact sheets:

Colour coded and star rated photographs:

Best images:

Final edits:

Combined rock photographs:

Singular object photographs:

Evaluation and Critique

Overall, I am very happy with how my second set of images turned out and really enjoy the look they give off with the scratchy background behind the rocks. I believe that this scratchy texture helps to elevate the images a lot more to make it seem like the whole image is rough and jagged. The rough and jagged sense displays what Jersey’s geology really is like and displays the real basis of the islands structure and aesthetic.

For the photographs that contain a collective of rocks, these ones I believe were to be my strongest photographs as I feel they hold a very bold sense of imagery. They capture the real sense of Jersey’s geological aspects and what the island has to hold within it’s beaches and other rocky landscapes. The way I edited the photo I particularly like as it highlights the layers of textures from each rock and gives them a much richer amount of importance.

For my singular images, I particularly like this image out of all the ones I took as I believe it is a very dramatic image and once again displays a nice rough and scratchy presence. Next time I would have possibly tried out photographing the rock on a black surface as I feel like that would have added quite a bit more depth, but it might have also faulted the overall aspect of the rock due to the rock containing quite harsh colours already. The focal point wouldn’t be very clear to see if it’s surrounded in a similar colour to the rock itself, whilst the white background displays the rock in its entirety.

This is my first joiner image in the style of David Hockney. When selecting my images i tried mixing black and white with colour images which i think turned out really interesting. Additionally by having the people in the foreground the image is given a true size of scale.

Self made joiner

Experimentation

To start making the Joiner, I had to find and mark the images I would use for the joiner to make them easier to find and use.

Next I edited an image to how I wanted it to look, then I used the synchronise function on Lightroom to make sure each image looks the same exposure/contrast-wise.

Then I exported them from Lightroom into small/medium sized files so they can be used in photoshop, in order to create the joiner

In photoshop, I used the Photomerge tool to generate the photo joiner automatically.

I selected the images I wanted to use and ticked the ‘Blend Images Together’ option

After that, this is what was generated. I like the way the joiner is somewhat imperfect on the top-right, it gives the image a more jagged look.

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Experimentation

Here I made a Black and White version to see how it would look.

Here I experimented on the image by hiding some layers, removing chunks from the original joiner. I think this looks interesting as the makes the edge of the joiner (which is usually just straight lines) appear more irregular.

Here is another experimentation where, instead of hiding individual layers, I used the selection tool to delete squares/rectangles from the image to see what effect that would create.

Here I flattened the photo joiner and applied a drop shadow to it to give it a more 3D look, as if it was a physical joiner.

Here I have made another photo joiner using the ‘cylindrical’ setting on the photomerge tool.

Here I was inspired by artist Daniel W. Farnden to make some parts of the image black and white. I like the way the colour and the black and white segments go well together.

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Second Outcome

This is another photo joiner I have made, instead of using the automate photo merge tool on photoshop, I manually placed the images together. I like the effect this makes as it makes some images brighter than others, in addition, I purposefully made some of the images blend incorrectly together to give the rock a more jagged look.

I have made a second version of this photo joiner where I have been even rougher with the placement of the images, giving the rock a distorted look.

In this version I wanted to see how the image would look if I flipped it and put them together. I like the effect this creates as it makes it easier to see the image in different ways/angles, which sometimes can change where the image draws our attention.

Third Outcome

For this joiner, I wanted to attempt to create an abstract shape using the images taken of the edge of the rock, allowing me to put them in a circular arrangement, creating a circle surrounded by sky. I chose a dark, mustardy colour as it pairs well with the blue of the sky, but doesn’t interfere with the image due to it’s dullness.

I made a black and white version of this image to see how it would look, I like this version as the sky separates the rock with the dark background, as well as how it creates a greater contrast between the bright and dark parts.

In this version, I cut out the edges of the joiner and made it circular to match the rough shape of the rock formation in the centre.

Here I have completely removed the sky to see how the rock would look by itself, I like the way this looks as an abstract image.

Here I experimented by changing the hue of the rock to a different colour (in this case purple) to see how it would look, I like the way this looks as it further abstracts the rock.

Here is a black and white version, I made the background slightly brighter to give the image a more vibrant look. I like the look of this image as it keeps the cold and angular properties from the stone while staying vibrant.

Here I copied each rock and changed the hue and size of each rock and made the background a very dark blue to match with the colours better, and perhaps give the image a space-like look. I like the effect this creates, as it looks like a collection of special rocks or something similar. While this has deviated slightly from the photo joiner technique, I think that this experimentation goes well with the rocks in the images.

Here are a few more examples of different colour combinations I thought went well with this image (including a black and white version).

After this set of experiments, I wondered how the image would look if I changed the hue of the whole image. I think this effect is interesting as it gives the image an abstract look.

Fourth Outcome

This outcome is a physical joiner I made by printing out the images in a 9 x 13 cm size, cutting them out and placing them on the black side of the window mount to create the joiner in a more traditional way. This was my first attempt at creating a joiner physically and I think it turned out quite well.

Final Images

Single Image

Joiner

Evaluation (For the Joiners)

I like the way my joiners came out – both the digital and physical ones. In particular, I thought the experimentation part of this project was the most fun and expressive, and it allowed me to explore the joiner technique further. During my experimentation, I focused on using colour and shapes towards my later experiments, which I think gave the joiners more ‘pop’. I chose the black and white rock on a mustard background as the final image because I think it has a good mix between contrast of colour and shape (being the rock), as well as the less complex background.

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I am not very interested in the ones overlayed onto 3D objects.

I then decided to make some joiners manually, inspired by David Hockney.

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Overall I enjoyed this experiment, I just wish that I had taken more images so I had more interesting looking Joiners.

I printed out my images and cut them up so they didn’t have any white borders and were all the same size.

What is a still life?

Still lifes were known to be paintings that displayed a variety of inanimate objects that were used as being the main subject of the piece. The paintings were known to communicate a moral or religious message and they particularly emphasised the shortness of life and the inevitability of decline and death. Still life paintings typically included fruit, flowers and objects contrasting with these in texture, such as bowls and glassware. Skeletons, burning candles and decaying fruit tend to be other popular choices within still life paintings

History behind still life

Still life ranges between many different time periods, aging all the way back to the 15th Century within the Egyptian culture. Still life began to become popular during ancient times and later on began to move throughout the middle ages, the renaissance period, modern period and is still popular to this day within contemporary art.

Ancient Still life

Coming from the ancient period, paintings were discovered from within burial grounds and tombs of what looked to be food – including crops, fish and meat. Later on within the ancient period, ancient greeks and romans became invested in the concept of still life and produced mosaics and frescoes.

Middle ages still life

Within the middle ages, still life was continued on but was based more around a religious concept and objects such as coins, seashells, and bushels of fruit were included in the pieces.

Renaissance still life

The renaissance period began solely using flowers as their focal point within paintings, but as the period progressed into the Dutch Golden Age, floral art took the turn of further stepping into becoming vanitas paintings. Vanitas paintings are inspired by memento mori, which was a genre of painting whose Latin name translates to “remember that you have to die.” Objects used would include human skulls, waning candles, and overturned hourglasses that were usually paired with a range of cut flowers.

Modern still life

Modern art then began to make the appearance of still life aspects and artists, such as Vincent Van Gogh and Cezanne, dabbled into the genre with the inclusion of usually flower filled vases, apples, wine bottles and water jugs. Cezanne in particular, dived into exploring a similar theme to that of vanitas genre by including skulls in his paintings. Pop art then began to follow the theme of still life, coming from artists such as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

Still life nowadays still holds importance within the style of contemporary art. Paintings of still life would be produced of modern-day food and objects usually in a hyper-realistic style.

The genre of Still life began with Netherlandish painting of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the English term ‘still life‘ derives from the Dutch word ‘stilleven‘. Early still-life paintings, particularly before 1700, often contained religious and allegorical symbolism relating to the objects depicted. Later still-life works are produced with a variety of media and technology, such as found objects, photography, computer graphics, as well as video and sound.

Still life in photography

There was then still life photography which was introduced alongside still life paintings. Still life photography became a genre of still life which included the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. Tabletop photography, product photography, food photography and found object photography are all examples of still life photography.

This genre gives the photographer more leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a composition compared to other photographic genres, such as landscape or portrait photography. Lighting and framing are important aspects of still life photography composition.

Man-made objects such as pots, vases, consumer products, handicrafts etc. or natural objects like plants, fruits, vegetables, food, rocks, shells etc. can be taken as subjects for still life photography. A range of these items were also quite common in historical still life paintings as well. Still life photos are not close up to the subject nor far away, but at a very head-on angle. The art in still life photography is often in the choice of objects that are being arranged and the lighting rather than the skill of the photographer.

Artist analysis

Pieter Claesz was a Dutch painter who achieved a striking simplicity and atmospheric quality in still-life representations. Claesz’s increasingly decorative work after 1640 includes lavish still-life displays.

Claesz was a Dutch artist who gave everyday objects great individuality. From the piece ‘Still life with a skull and a writing quill’, many suggested that a skull, a spilled glass with ephemeral reflections, an extinguished light, and a writer’s tools all imply that worldly endeavors are eventually futile. Claesz progressively refined the clarity and incisiveness acquired in this piece over a period of many years, during which he may be considered to have achieved an early maturity.

The painting displayed many of the typical vanitas aspects and was framed up in a dramatic sense with a messy layout of spilled items and other random objects.

Photoshoot 1 – La Cotte

For my first photoshoot, I went to La Cotte which is located in St. Brelades. I started at Le Quaisne beach and made my way into Portelet, then ended my photoshoot at Portelet beach. I chose this area as it is an archaeological site with a lot of rocky areas that allowed me to take a mixture of photographs. Portelet is also known to be a site of special interest meaning that it is protected because it is important to the island’s history, which links to my project. I started my photoshoot in the afternoon around 4/5 pm because I wanted to avoid the harsh lighting that could’ve appeared previously in the day. I also liked the idea of the sun setting and taking my pictures in different lighting instead of just the sun.

Contact Sheet

On this photoshoot, I took 300+ images and these are some of the contact sheets. I focused on taking close up of the rocks in order to capture the small details and textures of the different rocks. I also tried taking the images from different angles, heights and distances.

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Photoshoot 2 – Plemont

For my second photoshoot, I went to Plemont Bay, also known as ‘La Greve au Lancon’, which is on the west-north coast of the island. I took my photographs in the afternoon on a foggy and rainy day, compared to my previous photoshoot which was taken in sunny weather. I feel like this will make a nice contrast between my images later when editing and putting them together. I stopped at Portinfer Junction which is slightly further down the map and walked for around 15 minutes to the coast, before going down the clifftop and reaching the bay. I started at the Plemont Rock Pools and then made my way along the coastline to La cotter a la Chevre. Before leaving completely I stopped at the Fort Ruins and took more images over there.

Contact Sheet

This photoshoot consists of around 250 images I took on my walk at Plemont. On this photoshoot I focused on taking my images from a distance and occasionally zooming in for some texture, this is because I was on top of a cliff and at the rock pools which meant that I couldn’t exactly go closer and capture the details that way.

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Photoshoot 3 – Gorey

For my third photoshoot I went to Gorey which is located on the east side of the island, in the afternoon. When I got there, I went behind the Mont Orgueil castle and took my images at the beach, where most of the area was made out of rocks. It was quite cloudy outside but still bright which I think made the rocks stand out more.

Contact Sheet

These are my photoshoot from Gorey in which I took only around 220 images. This time I focused more on close up images because I really liked the texture of the rocks and all the shells/algae that had eventually fused with the rocks. I also took some pictures of the ocean as I liked the way the waves hit the shore.

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Calcite is the most common form of natural calcium carbonate. Carbonate minerals are formed of carbon and oxygen combined with various metals. Lining the holes in the rock is chalcedony, a form of quartz.