The term still life comes from the Dutch word ‘Stilleven’ in the 17th century, when the genre flourished in the fine art medium. Artists arranged significant objects and painted them and the genre was consolidated as one of the most popular.
Vanitas & Memento Mori
Vanitas still life with a skull, sheet music, violin, globe, candle, hourglass and playing cards, all on a draped table (1662) by Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts
The above image is an example of Vanitas. A Vanitas is a piece of art full of symbols that represent the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and death. The term derives from religious origins – in the first lines of the Book of Ecclesiastes; ‘Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’ These works include imagery of material goods such as wine or musical instruments, to demonstrate the triviality and vanity of worldly belongings.
Pieter Claesz, Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill, 1628. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The above image is an example of Memento Mori, a Latin phrase meaning ‘remember you must die‘. It is a style of still life of which the purpose is to remind the viewer of the fragility of life and inevitability of death. These can include imagery of skulls or extinguished candles.
Of course, these are all examples of pieces of fine art, not photography. An example of Vanitas/Memento Mori in photography is the work of Paulette Tavormina, shown below, who was inspired by the work of 17th Century Old Masters.
Paulette Tavormina, Vanitas VI, Reliquary, After D.B., 2015
Of course in the modern world of photography, we see that still life constantly has a place as a popular genre and here are some examples below.
Laura Letinsky
“Untitled #38” from the series “Hardly More Than Ever,” 2001, by Laura Letinsky.
The work of Laura Letinsky is some I find particularly interesting. Through her images in this series, she creates a moment, an action, an interchange – all through careful arrangement of her subjects. I personally love this work because it creates a space for where there was clearly life previously.
“Untitled #73” from the series “Hardly More Than Ever,” 2001, by Laura Letinsky.“Untitled #9” from the series “Hardly More Than Ever,” 2001, by Laura Letinsky.
Additionally, the abandonment of the articles within the images suggests symbols of rejection or perhaps the action of leaving things behind. This in itself directly links to the idea of Memento Mori photography – as the items have perhaps been left behind by someone who is no longer here to claim them.
Overall, I think it is clear that still life is always going to have a place in all different forms of art and creation, and so it should not be overlooked in its power to evoke emotion and thought through the use of symbolism.
In my view, it is almost always the case that a picture comes down not to what is contained in it but how the viewer interprets it. This relies upon; context – what previous knowledge the viewer may have surrounding the background of the image/its subject/s; personal background – as we know that this impacts every element of a person’s experience and choices; and connotational aspects – how the human brain has the ability to connect multiple things to each other at once, triggering specific emotions or memories through imagery or sensory experience. This interpretational nature of photography is, in essence, what secures it as an art form and makes it entirely accessible.
I am going to analyse the statement, ‘photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators.’, from David Campany’s work On Photographs. This quote is interesting because of its use of oxymoronic language. This gives the subject (photography) far more depth than one may have originally established and this is what creates the talking point.
When Campany says that photographs ‘confuse as much as fascinate’, he is possibly referring to the inevitability of captivation – oftentimes when one views an image it will fade from memory almost immediately; imagine how many images we see in a day, but there are a few occasions when an image will be entirely consuming in its attraction and mesmerism. Sometimes, when this occurs, we are unable to draw away from the image, consistently returning to its beauty/mayhem/gore/nostalgia – I think nostalgia is the most important here as it is often this which triggers the mind and evokes such emotions as sadness, joy or wistfulness to an overwhelming degree. Photographs can confuse as they may force the viewer to confront their content and also question something they believed in previously – as, after all ‘the camera never lies’ can sometimes be true.
This is an image which, for me, evokes feelings of nostalgia, one of my favourite things about photography and its capabilities.
The phrase ‘conceal as much as reveal’ is interesting as it alludes to the ongoing presence of media that shows false imagery – media which is consumed by all of us. There are so many examples of this, and one may find themselves constantly questioning what they thought they knew or had seen evidence of. Whilst alluding to this negative aspect of photography, the statement also shows that photographs have always and will always be used to document and broadcast – they allow us to reach across continents to access common experience and reference as a human race. This is arguably the most important role of photography due to its capacity to allow us to connect and also ask for help from one another.
This is an image of Martin Luther King Jr., following his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech, which was of course pivotal in the country’s ongoing civil rights movement. This is an example of why documentation is so important.
To ‘distract as much as compel’ is important because this is what allows us to escape through the use of images. To ‘distract’ ourselves through the medium of photography is to see things in a new manner and discover new perspectives. To ‘compel’, an image must galvanise the viewer – make them so acutely aware of their own emotion that they believe they must act upon it – or, if not act then just continue to enjoy the image.
This image is one of the most famous examples of documentary photography ever – Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange. The image is of a mother with her two children. They are people affected by the harsh effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s in America, and they have come to symbolise the hopelessness, fear and hunger felt by so many citizens at the time. This is a perfect example of why photography is so important in the acknowledgement of human struggle and empathy with others.
Photographs are named as ‘unpredictable communicators’. This is perhaps due to the adaptability of the human mind – we are programmed to take what we are given and make it comprehensible and relatable to our own thoughts and views. However, as discussed earlier, photographs are quite good at challenging this aspect of our nature and they often force us to confront personal barriers or beliefs. One should always be reminded of the need to believe only what we know is certain, and always to question that which we believe is certain, and always be aware of the fact that a photographer’s job is always to make their subject seem a certain way – every single part of the shoot will be directed towards this intention and therefore it will always be achieved, and we will always view an image that has been calculated very thoroughly. Perhaps a good example of this is the use of propaganda during fascist eras in European countries. The imagery used will always be chosen based on its factor of admiralty and inspiration – the purpose is always to ensure the subject appears strong and capable.
This is ‘Leap into the Void’ by Yves Klein, 1960.
The above image is an interesting example of this principle. We can see a man falling from a second-storey window, whilst another person cycles by. This is a piece of performance art produced by the famous performance artist Yves Klein, famous during the 1960s. The image is actually a photomontage made up of two images taken at different times and merged together. This is shown here:
On the left, the man jumps and is caught by others using a tarpaulin. On the right, the street is empty aside from the cyclist.
Yves Klein has created an image of himself leaping from the building ‘into the void‘. A void is an absence, a space created by lack of presence. As photographs are only snapshots – frames caught in a split-second – they do not allow us as the viewers to know what happened prior to or after the photo was taken. Therefore the image only draws our attention as viewers because we know that he cannot have photographed this as it is shown without injury. This creates a desire to investigate the story behind the image, which is perhaps the purpose of this intriguing technique. Additionally, drawing on the time the image was created, one could possibly link its illusion of freedom to the current socially turbulent era and all its numerous social and political movements including the civil rights movement, the student movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the women’s movement, the gay rights movement, and the environmental movement. This links to my earlier point – that a viewer’s interpretation of an image will rely upon context just as much as content.
Therefore, as a whole, I think that photography is many different things all at once, and is always down to interpretation on behalf of the viewer and their personal experiences. Often, the images we remember the most are the ones with a story behind them.
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light. The word Photography literally means ‘drawing with light’, and is the process of recording an image on light sensitive film.
Photography is often used to capture the view of the photographer, most of the time using them as a way to spread their ideas and bring awareness to specific topics. It can also be used as a way to express ones self through the photos they create.
David Campany
David Campany is a British writer, artist and photographer. He was born in 1967 in London and has a PhD as well as may awards for his writing. He has also written around 20 books one being called “on photographs”, in which he talks about the meaning of photography and his own personal view on the topic.
He thought of photographs as ways to press pause on the world and to allow us to look back on said moment any time we please. He also says that although the photographs never change, the meaning behind them does, and most likely will for a long time.
He also talks about how photos can show contrasting views and meanings. An example is through his famous quote “Photographs confuse as much as they fascinate, conceal as much as they reveal, distract as much as they compel. They are unpredictable communicators”. I believe that he is trying to say that there will always be two sides to every picture, since everyone will interpret what they see differently and see a different side to the image than someone else.
Another example of his idea of contrasting would be shown in the picture below:
In the photo we are able to see a small girl smiling contrasting against the conditions in her surroundings and the gloomy grey scale the image shows. It also will allow different people to have different view on whats happening in the picture, since its mostly up for interpretation.
David also talks about the use of words and language in his book, saying about how they are there to guide photos similarly to how a parent would guide their child through life.
Words also are used to help direct the viewer and give them a better idea of what their looking at through the use of captions. Captions are small annotations just below the image giving more detail about the photograph. This is a more discrete way to get the information across but to still have the main focus on the image at hand.
-David Campany
A leap into the void
– A leap into the void by Yves Klein.
Yves Klein was born on April 28th 1928 in France. He was a painter in a group but was one of the most influential artists at the time. He practised judo and at age 25 received a black belt, later going on to teach it for a period of time, even writing a book about it.
The making of the image was done by the help of a small put together team. He asked photographers Harry Shunk and Jean Kender to make a series of pictures documenting his jump while seven other people would hold a tarpaulin for Klein to land in.
There are two different versions of the photograph: one with a cyclist driving away in the background and another one, slightly darker, where the street is completely empty. The image including the cyclist was more popular and even used on the front of a popular Sunday magazine.
Aperture is the adjustment of how much light is allowed to pass through the lens. When there is a large hole through the lens it lets more light pass through and when there is a smaller hole, less light can pass through the lens.
Example photo of how aperture works.
WHAT IS DEPTH OF FIELD?
Depth of field is how much of the image you have photographed is in focus. It is the distance between the nearest and furthest photos which are “acceptably in focus” in an image captured with a camera.
What is photography? The word Photography literally means ‘drawing with light’, which derives from the Greek photo, meaning light and graph, meaning to draw. Photography is the process of recording an image on light sensitive film or, in the case of digital photography, via a digital electronic memory.
However, “photos are often thought as ways to hold things still.” they allow us to hold a memory, and also can be seen as a source of knowledgment.
“PHOTOGRAPHS CONFUSE AS MUCH AS FACINTAE, CONCEAL AS MUCH AS REVEAL, DISTRACT AS MUCH AS COMPEL. THEY ARE UNPREDICTABLE COMMUNICATORS”
This quote suggests that there is a deeper meaning and background to a photo than what you first originally see.
“Conceal as much as reveal”. Suggests that the photo or image may be hiding, or not showing the whole truth and what is expected. This creates a sense of mystery, David Campany does this by using a black and white filter over most of his photos in his book. On one of his pages in his book he writes about Helena Almeida’s ‘Inhabited Painting’ photo, where it is a black and white photo of a woman holding a paintbrush, contrasted with blue paint smudges across the photo. this creates mystery as it does not show the whole picture and you are left guessing what is happening behind it.
“Dirstact as much as compel”. This sentence gives the impression that photography can be someones source of escapism. for example, not having to focus on their own life and being able to focus on what they are taking a picture of, or what is happening in someone else’s photograph. By taking photos, you are able to capture moments “over time, across cultures and between contexts”. “If a photograph compels, if it holds our attention, it will be for more than one reason. The reasons may be unexpected, and even contradictory. When we are drawn to look at a photograph again and again, it is likely that our second or third response will not be quite the same as the first.” Furthermore, taking into consideration different views on a photograph upon viewing it more than once.
helen sear
“Confuse as much as fascinate”. This sentence implies that as much as a photo can confuse you, it is the confusion which draws you in to view it, and try to decode the thought process and meaning behind why it was taken. When not understanding something, you automatically want to learn about it to try understand it. this is what broadens your attention span.
What is photography class discussion.
How important is the readers intention?
I believe it is very important to know what the photographers intention is as in this photo ‘the day nobody died’ it has a story behind it of how two photographers travelled to Afghanistan to photograph the war but ended up exposing the film to sunlight. the story behind this image adds meaning and emotion to it.
This photo uses David Campany’s quote “photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel.” This is an interesting photo, as you question why this photo was taken and how it was taken.
The story behind how this photo was taken is found by researching it.
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film.
The word photography literally means ‘drawing with light’. The word was supposedly first created by the British scientist Sir John Herschel in 1839 from the Greek words phos, (genitive: phōtós) meaning “light”, and graphê meaning “drawing or writing”.
‘Photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators.’
-David Campany
David Campany and the book he wrote about photography
Photography has always been something that can be left to interpretation and each photograph has a sense of symbolism behind it. And although many people see photos as captures of specific moments- keeping them still, photographs and photography are constantly changing and moving. The technology is one aspect of photography that is constantly changing; and although no one can agree whether it is for the better or the worst, each decade that photography has been around for has been completely different from the last.
Different cameras that have been used throughout the decades.
Furthermore, photographs are very versatile, moving over time, into different cultures and between different contexts. Even the oldest photographs gain new understandings and interpretations to this day, as well as losing some that it had before.
One of the oldest photographs- people still try to interpret it to this day.
In his book, Campany wrote the line ‘Photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators’ which in my opinion describes photography perfectly. Most photos will have a deeper meaning than we think and looking at it more and more may cause us to slowly discover it.
I think the main purpose of that quote is to show how photography can be interpreted in many ways, and he tried to explain this by using contrasting words. The photo fascinates us, seeming so simple but slowly uncovering its true meaning to us. However, this could seem confusing to us, as at first it just seemed like a ‘normal’ picture- simply a still image of a captured moment but once we look at it again it clearly has another meaning to it. moreover, every photo always reveals something very clearly- capturing an object, person or place in its frame. But on the other hand, it hides the true purpose or meaning the photograph has- the hidden story behind the photo being something we must search for ourselves.
A compelling image with a story. A documentary photograph of a mother with two children hugging her. This photo was taken by Dorothea Lange and she called it ‘Migrant Mother’. It was taken during the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Photography can also distract it’s viewer- distracting them from the truth by portraying something in an untrue way. However, other times it can compel the viewer, causing them to see something in a certain way which causes them to act. There has never been a fine line between these two- as a image can distract and compel at the same time by showing something untrue that results in the viewers reaction- distracting them from the real problem. The final line ‘They are unpredictable communicators’, portrays photographs as things that are more developed than any language in the world- being able to communicate something to anyone that sees them. They are unpredictable as there is no telling what someone will take from a photo- each person may see it differently.
A photograph that can be read in many ways.
Lastly, most photographers aren’t taken under consideration when their photo is evaluated. This commonly results in the photograph’s meaning to be distorted, as the photographer always has a lot to do with their photos.
Photos can also be easily manipulated to create a completely different image. Images can either be staged or documentary- staged photos twisting reality to suit the idea the artist wants to portray. The photo above was taken by Yves Klein in 1960, showing him jumping off a building, the photo not showing any indication of him being caught. This is an image that confuses and fascinates the viewer- proving David Campany’s quote to be accurate. Klein managed to create this image by merging to images together- seamlessly conjoining them to cause the image to look real and like ‘documentary’ photo instead of staged. In one photo, he jumped off the building while some of his friends held out a tarp to catch him. Another picture was taken of just the place, allowing Klein to use the bottom half of that photo instead of the original one with the tarp- creating this fascinating and quite dramatic image. This photograph shows how easy it is to twist the truth, even in the 1960s.
This also indicates that taken the photographer and their life into consideration is very important if you want to know the truth about a photo. To further prove to the public that he was capable of flight, Klein distributed a fake broadsheet at Parisian newsstands commemorating the event.
Aperture is “the adjustable lens opening that controls the amount of light allowed into the camera” as well as controlling the exposure and depth of field. When there is a large hole, more light is being let in to hot the sensor and making your pictures lighter. Therefore, a smaller hole makes your pictures darker. This scale is written using f/stops (e.g. 1.4, 2, 2.8, etc.).
The f/stop can be seen below next to the shutter speed:
HOW APERTURE EFFECTS DEPTH OF FIELD
Depth of field is how much of the image is in focus, or the distance in an image where objects appear “acceptably in focus” or have a level of “acceptable sharpness.” Some images have a ‘shallow’ or ‘thin’ depth of field, where the background is completely out of focus. Or they will have a ‘high’ or ‘large’ depth of field, where both the background and the foreground are in focus.
Still life is a genre of photography, still life derives from the Dutch word stilleven, it is inspired by 17th century paintings of inanimate objects grouped together to create a photograph similar to a still life painting.
still life painting
Paulette Tavormina still life photograph
Still-life photography’s origins reside in the early 20th century. Art photographers emerged such as Baron Adolf de Meyer. It started as it coined in the 17th century when paintings of objects enjoyed immense popularity throughout Europe.
still life timeline
Still life genre began with Netherlandish painting of the 16th and 17th centuries developed as an art genre from the earliest centuries during the Egyptian and Roman periods. The history of the object can be tracked in many still life’s, from fruits, vegetables, skulls, and goblets. The definition of still life is something without life and without movement.
Still Life paintings in ancient Egyptian tombs consisted of common foods and objects, although they held deeper meanings than being mere tombstone decorations. The still life depictions were in honor of the dead and their usage in the afterlife. For example, a bowl of food would be included so that the person would have something to eat in the afterlife.
a photo of an ancient Egyptian tomb with a still life painting.
What is Vanitas?
A vanitas is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death.
Vanitas is latin for vanity. Vanitas was created because t was thought that vanity encapsulated the idea behind Vanitas paintings, as they were created to remind individuals that their beauty and material possessions did not exclude them from their inescapable mortality.
WHAT IS MEMENTO MORI?
MEMENTO MORI is a symbolic or artistic trope reminding the inevitability of death, it is a latin phrase that translates to “remember that you must die”. The phrase has its origins in ancient Rome, where it is believed that slaves accompanying generals on victory parades whispered the words as a reminder of their commander’s mortality, to prevent them from being consumed by hubris (excessive pride and self-confidence). The concept has become a familiar trope in the visual arts from the medieval period to the present. An example of Memento Mori would be a portrait with or of a skull it may also be accompanied with a timer to symbolise that time is running out and that you will die.
WHAT KIND OF METAPHORS AND SYMBOLS ARE USED IN STILL LIFE AND WHY?
1. Fruit: Varying Symbolism In Still Life Paintings
2. Skulls: The Certainty Of Mortality
3. Candles: The Passing Of Time
4. Flowers: Symbols Of Life And Growth
5. Seashells: Birth, Purity, And Fertility
6. Mirrors: The Soul In Reflection
7. Insects: Transformation And Decay
8. Musical Instruments: Beauty And Transience
9. Dead Animals: Contradiction And The Hunt
10. Silver And Gold: Luxury In Still Life Paintings
Paulette Tavormina is a fine art photographer.She was born in 1949 in New York. Tavormina took a class in black and white photography and dark room technique, she specialises in historical Indian pottery and jewellery She uses food as a prop to her photography she focuses on still life photography.
Studio lighting can be used in many ways to change an images light.
Continuous lighting is when the lights are constantly on before and after taking the photo. This can create an overall lighting that is not harsh but soft.
However flash lighting is when the shutter goes off, the lights flash on and off to capture the light when the camera takes the photo.
An example of continuous lighting is this photo I took in the studio with studio lights. Colour screens were used to cover the main light source to create colourful photos. These photos have a ‘soft’ feeling about them from the light.
However here is a photo from using flash lighting. Colour screens can’t be used for this technique, but overall the image seems brighter and the lighting seems stronger.
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.
The history of still-life photography
Where did it start?
Still-life photography’s origins reside in the early 20th century. Art photographers emerged such as Baron Adolf de Meyer. The Baron was known for his highly artistic approach to photography, as he employed darkroom techniques and used soft-focus lenses to create photographs that looked like drawings, which was fashionable at the time.
Emil Otto Hoppé is an esteemed British photographer who is known primarily for his portrait photography and travel photography, but he also produced wonderful still-life photography in the 1920s, with a handcrafted style, comparable to Baron Adolf de Meyer’s.
Modernist still-life photography
Jumping ahead a few decades, still life became modern in both subject matter and technology. What all Modernist movements have in common is a rejection of the past and the idea that they can make art objectively better by using unconventional approaches, which is what we can see when comparing early-20th Century and mid-20th Century still life-photography.
Man Ray was an American visual artist who was involved in different art media and was a prominent figure in the Dada and Surrealist movements. Man Ray reinvented the wheel when it came to still-life photography. He pioneered innovative techniques in photography, and he also took new approaches to still-life.
Contemporary still-life photography
Fast-forward to the 21st Century and many photographers working today are continuing in the tradition of Man Ray and representing still-life in their photographic art, with many excellent examples of still-life photography to look at.
What is Vanitas?
A vanitas painting contains collections of objects symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures.
What is Memento Mori?
The Latin phrase memento mori literally means, “Remember that you must die.” A basic memento mori painting would be a portrait with a skull but other symbols commonly found are hour glasses or clocks, extinguished or guttering candles, fruit, and flowers. Closely related to the memento mori picture is the vanitas still life.
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