WHAT IS STILL LIFE?
Still life photography is everything that is an inanimate object in front of a camera. Still life derives from the Dutch word stilleven, coined in the 17th century when paintings of objects enjoyed immense popularity throughout Europe. The first still photograph was taken around 1830
A vanitas is a symbolic work of art that shows the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, it is often contrasting symbols of wealth, symbols of ephemerality and death. The term originally comes from the opening lines of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible: ‘Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
Memento Mori
Memento Mori translates to “remember you must die” which implies they are objects which reminders us of the inevitability of death, such as a skull.
Paulette Tavormina
Tavormina a New York photographer takes pictures of still life inspired by the seventeenth century. She uses nostalgic and ancient items against the young flowers to show that everything ages, this can also be reinforced by the candle that is burned out and the hourglass slowly ending.
Olivia Parker
Parker is a self taught photographer that experiments with the different possible lighting that can be used. Parker started off as a painter, however soon turned to photography and quickly mastered the way to incorporate extensive knowledge of art history and literature and reference the conflicts and celebrations of contemporary life in her work.
TIMELINE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
METAPHORS AND SYMBOLS IN STILL LIFE
FRUIT – Like human life, fruit is perishable and ephemeral, therefore when a fruit appears to be fresh and ripe, this acts as a symbol of abundance, bounty, fertility, youth and vitality.
SKULLS – When skulls appear in photos the often have a moral purpose. Skulls symbolize mortality and ephemerality. They are a reminder of the fleeting pleasures of life.
CANDLES – Candles represent the inevitability of the passing of time, the longer they burn, the smaller they get until there is nothing left. A lit candle symbolizes light, truth, and knowledge. An extinguished candle symbolizes loss and death.
FLOWERS – Flowers can symbolize innocence as well as impermanence. Furthermore flowers can be a reminder of the shortness of our existence and the fleeting nature of life’s earthly pleasures.
SEASHELLS – Seashells symbolize birth, purity and fertility.
MY STILL LIFE PHOTOS:
