Photography – Monday 11^th September 2023

Still life quiz –

Q1. Where and when did still life originate?

• The early 1600s from Dutch and Northern European paintings

Q2. What does colonialism mean?

• Control by one power over a dependent area or people

Q3. How did colonialism impact the still life?

• It introduced new materials and techniques.

Q4. what do you see in early still life paintings?

• Variety of foods, flowers and occasionally skulls.

Q5. What could they symbolize?

• They could symbolize wealth and power in some cases and others maybe death, and lack of time which is shown in the paintings with skulls and or hourglasses.

History and theory of still life –

what is still life?

By definition, still life is a piece of artwork that shows inanimate objects from the natural or man-made world.

There are 4 different types of still life artwork: flowers, banquet or breakfast, animals and symbolic pieces. They each have different meanings and interpretations behind them.

Still life does not include people as objects within the work which does make the theme of still life easier to follow in photography because of the control you have.

The first generally considered still life photo or artwork that was made, was by a man called Jacopo De’Barbari in 1504.

Some of the key elements of still life are:

• composition
• shape
• form
• perspective
• light and dark pattern

These things are the essence of the resulting image. Still life photos or artworks can almost be perceived as anything and that is the beauty of the style.