What is Still Life Photography?:

Still Life is the photography of an inanimate object whether it be natural or man-made. Like a can or a flower.

Here are some still life photos for example:

The term “Still Life” is also used in painting too:

History of Still Life Photography:

Still Life began to be a genre around the 17th Century. When many paintings were published. They usually contained things about death and religion.

Eventually when cameras were invented, the first photographer to take a still life photograph was a man named Baron Adolf de Meyer.

Resources suggest this was the alleged photo that was taken:

Since then, Still Life photography became a very popular genre among many photographers. And as technology improved and cameras could eventually take coloured pictures, Still Life photography became even better. With more vibrant and clearer pictures taking in the real world we live in.

This is Still Life photography now:

Vanitas:

Vanitas is actually a genre that is used mostly in Art and relates to what was stated earlier about “Death”.

Infact, it more captures the entirety of life. To show how painful and or how beautiful it is.

An example of a Vanitas painting:

Here you can see a flower, a skull and a sand timer.

The flower, symbolising beauty. Could be connected to the beginning of life. The skull, symbolising death and the timer which could be suggesting that your time is limited and eventually, you will run out.

As you can see in this picture, it contains elements relating to life and death.

Memento Mori:

The phrase “Memento Mori” comes from the Latin saying that means “Remember that you have to die”. “Memento Mori” clearly has connections to death too.

“Memento Mori” is also another genre in photography and art that obviously revolves around death. It acts as a message to remind people of the inevitability of death. While that may sound dark and scary, I believe it is trying to put death in a different light by making people accept their fates as it would be better to die brave than to die scared. I think it is trying to tell us that death is not something we should fear and run away from (or at least deaths from natural causes, maybe not from things like murder).

Here are some pictures that fit in to this genre:

Here is a tattoo that shares many similarities with the Vanitas one, such as the skull and sand timer. Both having connotations to death and time.

Here is a decorated skull, which is painting death as a more beautiful thing than a bad thing. I like both of these pictures as it uses art AND photography.

Metaphors and Symbols in Still Life photography:

We have already stated some metaphors and symbols relating to death already, so some other ones it can be linked to is Nature, which can be capturing plants and animal life:

Another one can be of a street in the middle of a city, the places we walk through everyday. Looking at photos of these kinds can remind us of how far our species has come to have this society we live in:

One more can be of the weather, showing us the beauty in our world. Whether it be raining or sunny there is always something to look at and admire.

What is it:

Photography is writing with light, as well as going through the process of taking and developing or processing an image.

A few examples:

In this image Shrunk and Kender have captured a man falling from a building or ‘leaping into the void’. The image is very intriguing as it makes you think what has made the man jump from the building. I think the image had quite a dark sense behind it which is what makes the image so catchy.

In this image by Broomberg and Chanarin it is unclear what the image is and is telling us, which allows for the viewer to make up their own background story of it. Once you do some research you will find out that the images is about war in Afghanistan. This allows the viewer to further read into the image discovering deeper meaning and back stories to the image.

camera obscura:

Camera obscura consists of a room with a box that has a tiny hole in one of the sides. Light will reflect from the natural world and will project an image from outside the box on to the opposite surface as shown in the image below.

This method of photography is still used in the modern world by some photographers all over the planet.

Nicephore Niepce:

Joseph Nicephore Niepce was the first person to make a permanent photographic image, and is commonly known to people for inventing photography. He invented the Niepce Heliograph in 1827, it was the process of the earliest photograph and was created with camera obscura. He was one of the most important figures in the photography industry and is still widely remembered to this day.

Louis Daguerre and daguerreotype:

Louis Daguerre was a French artist and photographer who helped develop photography with his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography which was the first practical process ever to be invented in 1839. Daguerre had an interest in lighting effects which is what brought his towards photography as he was a painter. He began by exploring with translucent paintings and different effects that were given off by light.

Henry Fox Talbot:

Henry Fox Talbot was famously known in 1841 for the development of the calotype, which was a further developed version of Deguerre’s daguerreotype. His process is where you have a sheet of silver chloride coated paper that was exposed to light in a camera obscura, the areas that were I the line of light then became darker in their tone and produced a negative image.

Richard Maddox:

Richard Maddox was an English photographer and physician who invented the dry plate, a glass plate coated in gelatin. It was an improved type of photographic plate that was greatly developed in 1871, so much that a factory that made them was established. From his invention smaller hand held cameras were able to be made.

George Eastman:

George Eastman was an American entrepreneur who introduced the kodak camera in 1888, which helped promote amateur photography, widely. He create the Kodak which is still used all over the world to this day.

Kodak (Brownie):

The Kodak was a series of cameras made by George Eastman in the 1900s. It consisted of a cardboard box with a simple camera and roll film inside, it was widely loved as it allows middle class people to take images of their own with the Kodak brownie dollar box. The camera had a single shutter speed and narrow apertures which allowed for a deep depth of field creating a simple image.

Digital Photography:

Digital photography uses a camera that contains many electronic photodetectors which produce an image from a lens. There are two types of digital images. Vector and raster.

Vector:

Vector images are created by using a sequence of commands through a computer. It places lines and shapes to create the image. These images are either a graphic artists work, or a file and are saved as as a sequence of vector statements, compared to raster images they are very clear and sharp.

Raster:

Raster images are are images made up of hundreds of tiny pixels, laid out in coulombs and rows. Each pixels contains different information and a colour to make the image piece by piece that depends on the image and its angle.

Ernest Baudoux:

Ernest Baudoux was a French born Jersey prolific photographer, and was from 1869 to 1887. He mainly focused on island houses and made a living as a portraitist as well as documenting the life of Jersey outdoors from 1870 to 1880. Many of his images that still exist are known as carbon printing, which means that images have a metallic-like finish. Baudoux was the first significant chronicler of the island life in images that was later taken over by Albert Smith.

David Campany’s book:

Campany’s book is focused on the quote ‘photographs confuse as mush as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators’. His book contains 120 photographs from various photographers where by he explains the images history and meaning behind the image, as well as contextualising is with the visual culture.

When explaining his quote he says ‘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 (mixed feelings are often the most compelling). 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‘. This means images may have multiply different meaning that are only seen when we look deeper into image many times, ‘They cannot carry meanings in any straightforward way‘.

Experimenting with using the cut out tool on photoshop, using two of my images with different colours to create contrast.

Using different shapes, circles adding colour to the image. Printing my images out then creating some photomontages.

Still life is a painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects, typically including fruit and flowers and objects contrasting with these in texture, such as bowls and glassware.

In the 17th century lots of paintings representing objects or “still life” began being well-known, usually made for the rich in Europe. These types of paintings were hyper realistic. They included objects which were carefully places and usually told a story, with a hidden meaning behind them, these are called vanitas. They often contained symbols of death and originated as a Dutch genre. this is called memento mori and it means an artistic or symbolic trope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death. This could be by including skulls or objects that will eventually lose their purpose or “die”, e.g. flowers.

Still life featured prominently in the experiments of photography inventors Jacques-Louis-Mandé Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot. They did this in part, as the exceptionally long exposure times of their processes precluded the use of living models.

there are many photographers who challenge the idea of still life and take on the idea of photographing objects, or foods but adding a slight hint of modernism to their pictures.

Laura focuses on photographing food, or the consumption of food. Her vanitas are much more modern but follow the original style of still life. originally vanitas were photographed in order to tell a story but be attractive. She does the exact same thing, as she places the food/objects carefully in order to create an order of the food that has been eaten. at first glance the photographs don’t seem extraordinary as it is simply a photograph of some foods, but the background, the specific foods, their order and placement, everything challenges the idea of memento mori, where the foods resemble death, the end of the fruits life. These photographs specifically represent beauty in the everyday foods and challenges the viewer to cherish everyday objects especially food as its so crucial to them, to be grateful for it but also to notice or pay attention to tasks like eating, as within minutes a human causes chaos to the food, how a single person can have so much control and how much change they can change when it comes to the food form. She specifically photographs food that has already been consumed to show that the foods beauty is not destroyed it is just in a different shape and form. maybe she aims to do this so the viewer doesn’t feel as bad for eating or maybe she means the opposite, either way what she aims is to portray food in a different form but still make it beautiful.

What I found interesting about her work from others is the pastel like colours and the calmness she aims to capture with her photographs, contrasting with the things she is photographing, almost as if she is trying to say the chaos of the foods is not a chaos at all, all depending how you look at it. Her images are quite bright but not over exposed. She uses light diffused window lighting, where it is usually greyish/white, creating a few light shadows. The whole composition of the photograph is relaxing and pleasing to look at, like I said before, the way she captures the foods is beautiful and calm in contrast with what is going on in the photo. This is because often when photographers photograph disturbed scenery they would edit the picture in the way where it would dramatize this effect, making it dark or saturated, where it would create similar feelings as the object being photographed, however her photographs confuse as they are not edited that way at all .

Except from adjusting the aperture after getting the camera setting right for the objects and lighting I have also rearranged some objects and used different coloured papers to put over the light so the images would also have interesting tones to them, this was so I could produce different photographs.

In a different blog post I have explained how through the photoshoot I have also experimented with different aperture and shutter speed.

My favourite images from the photoshoots :

The images I have selected are “raw” images, meaning these photographs are not yet edited and are images of what the camera has seen them as.

Still Life Edits

Once I was able to select my favourite images I could then edit these in adobe Lightroom. I have mainly edited them in the develop mode as then I was able to play around with the tones, exposure, lights and darks and texture. for most of my edits I have increased the texture to make the photographs more sharp and show more detail. I have also in come cases increased the saturation or tones and to make the pictures darker, decreased the exposure. Depending on the picture and how much exposed it is , I have individually increased lights and darks, but this was depending on a specific photograph.

with other photographs I changed them to black and white and adjusted them from there, usually playing with how light and dark I would want the objects in the photograph to appear.

Apart from making them black&white, in the library mode I selected for some photographs a filter which then similarly to black and white images, I played with how strong I would want the filter to be visible on the objects.

What was very useful was to copy what I have done to one image and paste it onto another , meaning the edits that I did to one would be the same on another. I was able to do this in develop mode where I would press copy in the left bottom corner and selecting a different image and pressing paste which is found in the same place as copy.

With copying the edit setting for one image and layering them onto another , I could see how the same setting would effect a completely different image. which made the process of editing a couple of the images quicker and easier. However this doesn’t mean I didn’t focus on the image by itself long enough, as I would check how the settings compliment the objects and on top of that what else I may add to make the photograph it’s best quality.

with this and a couple more images I had to use the circle erase tool, found in the top right corner, below the histogram, in the develop mode. this tool was very useful to erase all the dots that were on the camera lens, usually little bits of dirt. however by using that tool and selecting the flaws in the photograph I quickly got rid of them, making the photograph look more clean.

Still Life best images

After having a great amount of images that look to their best quality, with the help of Lightroom to meat them to this standard I could do final checks and look more for the faults in the image , like dirt or unwanted bits. After this if I was satisfied with the images I put them in a separate folder which would make them easier to find later if its needed to print them.

My response to the still life photoshoot is that for my first ever photoshoot in the studio to editing the photographs and selecting my final ones, the images are to their best quality and I have demonstrated as well as enhanced the objects beauty, if its by highlights and shadows but as well as tones. the images when put together or next to each other could be grouped as colourful yet this is what in my opinion makes the photographs interesting. When shooting the pictures with the camera, I had fun rearranging the objects as I had to creatively think ahead of how they would look from a different angle. As well as with aperture and shutter speed, I have learned how changing certain settings affect the camera, which was useful not only when taking these images but in the future , when it comes to other photoshoots. This was one of my first times using Lightroom which also was a lesson for the future and getting used to the program in order to know how to make other photos in the future to their best state and how to know what to do to achieve the effect I want on them quicker.

“Photographs confuse as much as fascinate, conceal as much as reveal, distract as much as compel. They are unpredictable communicators.”

– David Campany in ‘On Photographs’

Photography is the art and application of capturing light to create images, often known as “writing or drawing with light”, often using a digital sensor or film. The word “photography” was originated from the Greek words φωτός (phōtós) and γραφή (graphé) “representation by means of lines” or “drawing”. The first photograph was taken in 1826 by French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, and it was titled View from the Window at Le Gras.

Photography is a diverse way of communicating without using words, that is what makes photography a universal language; anyone can interpret it in anyway. You don’t need to speak the same language to understand or relate to what the photographer intended. This means that people from all ends of the world could share a feeling and experience. However, what shapes the viewers response to photography includes experiences, culture, beliefs, and opinions. For example, if an apple is used in the picture, many would link that to fruit, nature, and good health whereas others may perceive that as a sin (Adam and Eve) or a teacher pet, etc. the possibilities are endless.

Photography is also a way of capturing moments in time, sealing them forever and allowing memories to never fade. It freezes a point in time perfectly in this fast paced world. When you record a memory, you are not only capturing a scene but also feelings and emotions that could have a deep connection with many people. They show off every blemish or mistake along with every triumph or enhancement, making them perfect just the way they are. Furthermore, “confuse as much as fascinate” explains how we might never know the full intent or story behind the image. A picture may tell a tale of 1000 words without saying anything, but what part of the story is missed out? What was happening behind it? Or to the left? Or the right? What was happening on the other side of the camera? Why was that the section that the photographer wanted us to see?

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An example would be both of these images above. There are endless possibilities and ideas behind each and it is left up to the viewer to put together their own story for them. This is what makes all photographs similar despite their differences; they all hold countless theories in just one moment of time. Therefore, ‘What is Photography?’ is an question that holds far too many answers to narrow down to just one.

This topic has allowed me to trial different camera techniques to produce images like the ones shown above. From the start of the topic, I knew very little but can now easily say that understand the basics of photographing and editing still life and single object images. In future however, I would prefer to test more abstract ideas when taking photographs, to create a more artistic sense of individuality rather than simply saying that no one else took a photo of this as no two images are completely the same.

The images below show my final prints mounted into triptychs and single window mounts. Each of these presented a different challenge when creating them. For the pieces mounted onto foamboard, I struggled to ensure the straight lines and borders of the images, but then finding different ways to present each of the different triptychs as clear and individual presentations. The most difficult aspect of making the window mounts, was making sure the measurements were as accurate as possible and ensuring the lines were perfect when cutting. Neither were complete perfection, but I can proudly say that with practice, future window mounts will be easily created.

My still life photomontages were based off these images (shown below)…

and combining them both digitally and by hand to create:

Mary Ellen Bartley is a photographer that was held at home and away from her photography studio over the period of lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK. However she did not let this stop her. Each day for a month, she took random every day household objects and photographed them in natural light in different ways each day. The items included a book, sponge, mug, milk bottle, a glass cube and a small dish. From here she created these images showing how even the little things we see everyday can be manipulated to produce amazing images and artwork.

Walker Evans began his photographic career in the late 1920s, taking shots on his trip through Europe. Upon his return to the USA he published his first images in 1930 and went on to document workers and architecture in the Southeastern states. His portfolio, “Beauties of the Common Tool”, was published in 1955 by Fortune Magazine. This work showed the “offbeat museum show for the man who responds to good, clear ‘undesigned’ forms” that are the basic work tools including scissors, pliers, and trowels.

Darren Harvey-Regan believed that photographs do not exist just to show things, but are physical things that become objects themselves. He began 58 years after the publishing of Walker Evan’s portfolio shown above and used his images to create new and more abstract creations. He pulled Evans’ photos apart and cross matched them with each other to create unusual and interesting images.

His further works include “The Halt”, a photographed axe held to the wall by a real axe to create the illusion that it becomes part of the image; and “The Erratics”, a series of images that show differently shaped pieces of chalk with both organic and geometric lines and shapes carved within them or to match their surroundings.