Still life is a way of taking pictures or painting of objects by arranging them in intricate designs which often are used to remind the viewer of how volatile life can be but also the beauty and complexity behind living. They are commonly seen depicting fruit, flowers, vases and skulls.
Paulette Tavormina
Richard Kuiper
Kevin Best
My attention was first brought the the frilly collar in this one then the skull and then finally the books. With the way the light is so intense on one side of the skull and so weak on the other it is most likely artificial lighting. The texture on the spine of the books appears very smooth and the fabric that the objects are stacked on.
Compared to other still life’s that include things such as skulls and books this one is rather simplistic and I think that’s what drew me to it the most and made it stand out.
Kevin best managed to create dark gothic still life’s with light foreground objects. These often depict books, skulls, fruit, instruments and a glass by reinventing the paintings from the “golden age”.
Timeline of Still Life
The term Still life comes from the Dutch word ‘Stilleven‘ and gained popularity in the 16th century, however, there have been paintings of paintings fond in Egyptian tombs such as the tomb of Menna. dating back to the 15th century the ancient Greeks and romans created similar art with one of the most famous examples being a first century wall in Pompei.
During the Middle Ages still took on a religious theme, incorporating arrangements into biblical scenes. They also decorated manuscripts with coin shells and shells.
the renaissance saw an increase in popularity in still lifes of flowers. This mainly occurred in the 17th century when northern Renaissance artists became interested with creating studies of everyday.
During the Dutch golden age artist took flower paintings to the next level with the development of vanitas, which showed the mortality of life.
Still popular in the modern art movement with Pierre-Auguste Renoir dabbling with the genre, but it really made an impression in the post-impressionist period. Vincent van Gogh painting flowers vases and Cezanne painting a famous series involving water jugs, apples and wine bottles on top of askew tables.
With the invention of the camera and society developing at a rapid pace, new themes started to appear among the genre: modern food such as a fast food and intricate perfume bottles. The still lifes created with a camera are hyper realistic compared to the other periods- however, they display a restricted spectrum of emotions. But with the use of new technologies, photographers are able to create more detailed designs.
What is a Vanitas?
A Vanitas is a work of art that uses symbols such as skulls and fruit to show the shortness of life and the futility of pleasers, they are designed to remined the viewer of their own mortality.
What is Memento Mori?
The phrase ‘memento mori’ is Latin for ‘remember that you must die’. these portraits often include things such as skulls and hourglasses to remind the viewer that time doesn’t stop for any one and that we all eventually run out.
Still life (Coined in the 17th century and derives from the Dutch word stilleven) is a Dutch style of painting popular throughout Northern Europe during the early 1600s with arrangements of lavish and exotic objects with depth and meaning.
Abraham van Beyeren is a Dutch artist who painted ‘The Hague’. This painting includes fruits, a lobster, metalwork and glass to represent wealth, luxuries and earthly pleasures. Previous paintings of the century focused on reminders of immortality with wilting flowers, human skulls and rotting foods.
Timeline
Still life solidified itself as a genre from the Netherlands in the late 16th century hence ‘stilleven’ the Dutch origins for the English term still life. These were paintings made up of religious symbols. It emerged from rising fascinations with high detailed realism in art.
Gradually the religious symbolism was swapped with moral lessons, the natural world and exploration of the new world. This prompted the beginning of scientific illustrations and the appreciation of objects without religious or superstitious meanings. Interest with exploration of the new world brought newfound wealth and with it expensive arrangements of silvers and golds as opposed to flowers and meats.
By the 18th century production decreased in favour of Rococo decorations on porcelain and wallpapers. All religious symbolism had been lost and paintings were made up of interesting textures like feathers and fur instead.
The 20th century saw attention shifting to abstract, representational art instead. Detail had been replaced with bold outlines and vibrant colours, backgrounds were no longer plain and incorporated many different colours which was a major step towards abstract art.
Now in the 21st century still life has extended to all sorts of mediums such as sculptures, photography and digital art.
Objects and Meanings
Vanitas are a metaphor for transience(the state or fact of only lasting a short time) since the 1620s saw the outbreak of bubonic plague.
Memento Mori is an artistic reminder of the inevitability of death. Skulls, hourglasses, clocks and snuffed candles are all common symbols used in Memento Mori photography.
Skulls represent the certainty of mortality probably because the skeleton is only visible after you’ve begun decomposing after death.
Flowers represent life and growth because spring is when flowers bloom and their lives are so short that you can witness their whole cycle.
Mirrors represent soul in reflection because they reflect.
Musical instruments represent beauty and transience because music requires skill to master and can singlehandedly change the mood of a room as well as being an admirable skill and can create beautiful art pieces.
Silvers and golds represent luxury because of the price tag associated with these items.
Candles represent the passing of time because they gradually burn down.
Seashells represent birth, purity and fertility.
Insects represent transformation and decay because of the change from caterpillar to butterfly and they slowly eat away at plants and creatures.
Dead animals represent contradiction and the hunt because they are either a predator which hunts or prey and will be hunted.
Final Image
For this photograph I only used 3 objects. The background is split in two with both black and white card used which lines up with the tapes and tools. I used a low angle which made the objects appear slightly larger so they would fill the shot. There are only three colours: black, white and red which I think creates a more uniformed look and gives the photograph a simplistic appearance. I changed the temperature because it had a blue tint before but also increased the exposure and contrast. This made the photograph brighter and the difference between tapes and tool clearer.
Albert Renger Patszch takes black and white photographs with distinct shadows for the appearance of depth. His photographs focus on plants and landscapes and with repeating patterns and clear lines. I believe this photograph is a good example of these features combined.
This photograph shows a plant stem vertically filling the frame which creates a clear line through the centre. This creates a sense of symmetry without both sides being the exact same.
This photograph is black and white with the subject dark and the background much lighter which contrasts to separates the two. Black and white is more dramatic since colours are vibrant and cheerful. This photograph could have easily been taken in colour but that would focus attention to the shades of green as opposed to its shape and texture.
Aperture controls the blur or sharpness of an image. f/2.8 blurs the background so makes the subject stand out so is used in portraits. Lower number means more background blur. f/22 has a clear background so is used in landscapes.
Shutter Speed
Shutter Speed is how long the camera is taking the photograph. A longer shutter speed (i.e 1 sec) will have moving objects blurred. This shows movement. A shorter shutter speed (i.e 1/4000) will have a moving object crisp.
ISO
ISO affects the exposure by sensing how much light to let in. On a bright day you would use a low ISO so it isn’t as sensitive and in the dark you would need a high ISO. You always want to be using the lowest ISO possible because it will look grainy otherwise.
Camera simulator
I used Cannons camera simulator three times with different settings to see what affect they had on a photograph and I think the third turned out the best. The colours are bright, the shutter speed is slow so shows movement and the background is slightly blurry so the aeroplane stands out. The photo before is grainy and too dark but the propeller is completely still. The second photo had its ISO too high and looked grainy and the first was a bit too overexposed.
I’ve discarded these photos because they didn’t meet a standard, and a lot of them involved hands and blurs that were automatically taken by the camera.
These are two photos that I deemed valuable enough for an edit, but overall didn’t turn out too great and I wasn’t impressed with the result of the editing process. They were too grainy and lacked the detail in texture that I wanted to replicate from Walker Evans and Daren Harvey-Regan
Overall I think these images turned out the best of the 54.
The shadows and texture were what I wanted from this photoshoot and they also contained the specific clarity and vintage look I wanted to include to match that of Walker Evans and Daren Harvey-Regan.
In this picture I rated, coloured and flagged my photos so that I could have an idea of what pictures I liked most and so that I could edit the pictures that I liked without editing the unnecessary pictures.
This was my set up. I took my all photos from the top which meant that I had to get on top of a chair and take the photo from there so that I could properly take the photo. I placed the tools in the middle of the white paper and then free handed with my camera and made sure my hands were stable enough and then took the photos when I was satisfied with the position of the tool. I took some in landscape and some in portrait because some objects were larger but some objects looked really good in landscape but better in portrait. my camera had the setting where when I took a picture the light on the left flashed. I didn’t have a continues light shining on my tools.
For this photo I wanted to enhance the shadows and colour of the tool. I kept temperature and tint the untouched, increased exposure for the photo to be brighter, clarity to increase the details in the photo, dehaze to increase the contrast in flatter areas and vibrancy to bring more intensity to colours that were ‘muted’. Then I decreased the shadows so that the shadows were more evident. I kept the highlights, contrast, whites, blacks, texture and saturation untouched because it didn’t add much to the picture and was unnecessary. This photo was taken free hand, I was standing on top of chair to give me height so that I could take a picture from the top. The photo was taken with a flash setting so when I took the photo the light on the left flashed.
For this photo I wanted to give it more of a homey feel to it so I increased the temperature to make it warmer, decreased the tint so that I could affect the mood and later enhance it increasing other parts of the photo, increased the contrast to give the picture a more lively look, decrease the highlights to recover some of the details that aren’t as apparent, increased the blacks so that I can make a better use of the tonal range of the photo, increased the texture to show more of the details in the books, increased the clarity so that the letters in the book was much clearer and lastly decreased the vibrancy so that some of the brighter tones in the picture were ‘deafened’. I kept exposure, whites shadows, dehaze and saturation untouched because I felt like it didn’t add much to the photo.
For this picture I wanted to highlight the rust in the wrench so I kept the temperature, tint, exposure and dehaze untouched because it didn’t do anything useful to my photo. To highlight the rust I increased the exposure to make the photo brighter therefore it increased the colour of the rust, decreased the contrast to soften the image, not give it such a rough tone to it, increased the highlights to highlight some of the lightest parts in the photo, decreased the shadows so that it increased light in some of parts of the photo that are quite dark, increased the whites to make the background much lighter, increased the blacks to bring out the darkness of the tool, increased the texture to show the detail of the tools and show the texture of the rust, decreased the clarity to create a more smooth tone in the picture so that is isn’t as ‘rough’, increased the vibrancy to make darker parts of the tool really come out and become present and lastly I increased the saturation so that the rust on the tool would become more visible which was what I was aiming for.
For this photo I wanted to make the red on the tool really pop out and I also wanted to make the photo warmer. I kept exposure, whites, and dehaze untouched because they didn’t do any good to the photo. To give the photo life I increased the temperature and tint to give it a warmer tone, decreased the contrast to make the photo a little muted so its not as harsh which is the opposite to warm, increased the highlights to make areas that are lacking of light become lighter therefore intensify the colour of the tool, increase the shadows so that the shadow the the tool created became more clear, decreased the blacks so that the background isn’t as dark but not too bright either, increased the texture so that the details in the photo are powerfully shown, increased the clarity so that the details in the photo reached their full potential, increased the vibrancy so that the red would really be brought out and finally I decreased the saturation so the photo didn’t have an ‘indie’ look to it.
For this photo I wanted to make it the same as the picture before this which was make the red on the tool to really pop out and I also wanted to make the photo warmer. So I I kept exposure, whites, and dehaze untouched because they didn’t do any good to the photo. To give the photo life I increased the temperature and tint to give it a warmer tone, decreased the contrast to make the photo a little muted so its not as harsh which is the opposite to warm, increased the highlights to make areas that are lacking of light become lighter therefore intensify the colour of the tool, increase the shadows so that the shadow the the tool created became more clear, decreased the blacks so that the background isn’t as dark but not too bright either, increased the texture so that the details in the photo are powerfully shown, increased the clarity so that the details in the photo reached their full potential, increased the vibrancy so that the red would really be brought out and finally I decreased the saturation so the photo didn’t have an ‘indie’ look to it.
In this photo I wanted to darken the red but give more colour to the background so, I kept the temperature, tint, exposure, blacks, dehaze and saturation untouched as I felt like it didn’t do much to the photo. I increased the contrast to sharpen the image, highlights to give some light to parts of the picture that didn’t have as much light, texture to add more dimension so the photo isn’t as flat, clarity to make the image clearer and increased the vibrancy to give the picture more life and colour. Then I decreased the shadows to lighten darker parts in photos, whites to make the photo cooler and finally decreased the saturation so that the picture to mute colours I didn’t want apparent.
For this picture I wanted to show more texture and bring more colour to the photo so, I increased the temperature to increase balance in the photo, tint to expand the colours in the photo, highlights to make parts in the photo that were bright even brighter, whites to show more of the whites in the picture, blacks to give the red a more deep colour, texture to show all the little details in the photo, clarity to clearly show the details on the tool and background, dehaze to darken the image and add more saturation to the picture and finally increased the vibrance to bring more vibrancy to the colours in the photo. Next I decreased the exposure to make the picture darker, contrast to increase the differences in the photo, shadows to make some of the unneeded shadows go away and finally I decreased the saturation so that the photo didn’t have ‘fake’ look to it.
For this photo I wanted to bring out the colour that wasn’t as noticeable in the original photo so I kept the vibrance and saturation untouched because they gave the photo an ‘indie’ look to it. I increased the tint, to give the photo more colour, highlights to bring out more light in bright areas, whites to bring out more of the whites in the photo, blacks to show the unseen colours on the tool, texture to increase the details in the photo and finally increased the dehaze to help with the haze in the photo. Then I decreased the temperature in the photo to create and imbalance in the photo that I can build by decreasing other parts in the picture, decreased contrast to make the photo more vivid, shadows to decrease the unwanted shadows in the photo and finally decreased the clarity so that the details in the photo weren’t too harsh.
For this photo I wanted to increase the texture and lighting, so I kept the vibrance in the photo untouched so that it didn’t take the details from the photo. I increased the temperature to give it a more warm colour to it, exposure to increase the lighting on the background, contrast to sharpen the photo, shadows to give the tool more shadow, whites to increase the whites in the background and make it brighter, texture to show the Fine details in the photo and finally increased clarity to enhance the details on the photo. After I decreased the tint so that the photo didn’t have uneccesaary tint on it, highlights to recover lost details, blacks to not make the photo darker, dehaze so that the haze in the photo isn’t as evident and finally I decreased the saturation to mute and fade unwanted colours in the photo.
Finally for this photo, I wanted to bring the yellow that wasn’t really show in the original, unedited photo. First of all, I increased the temperature to give the tool a more warm tone to it and to intensify the yellowish brown on the tool, exposure to expose more the colours in photo contrast to sharpen the photo, texture to show the details on the tool, clarity to bring more clarity to the background therefore lifting the colour in the photo, dehaze to darken the image a little, vibrance to bring out the colours in the photo and finally saturation to portray the photo with an ‘alive’ tone to it. Lastly I decreased the tint to improve the contrast in the photo, highlights to so that lost detail in the photo is recovered, shadows to bring out more of the shadows in the photo, whites to give a boost to the white in the background and finally I decreased the blacks so that to make the photo brighter which gave it more life.
for these photoshoots I was trying to focus on only having a couple objects in the image and trying to focus more on shadows and depth.
Original picture on the right ->
For the image I had the shutter speed set at 1/80 secs and I had the aperture set at f/5.6
For the editing all I did was change the hue slightly, changed the highlands and shadows and crop the image so it was more even with negative space surrounding it.
Overall I think its a good image I think the slight reflective shadows from the cutlery looks really interesting as it gives the image lots of depth. However I do think it would have been to try and get some more photos with lots more different and harsher shadows if possible.
I do quite like this photo I think there is a lot of interest texture and depth due to the boxes and the sheet underneath the cutlery adding these new dimensions into the image. However because of the material the objects where on and the lighting it means there aren’t any shadows which was I what I was wanting for the photoshoot.
For this photo I had the setting set at 1/80 secs for the shutter speed and f/5.6 for the aperture.
Once again there wasn’t much editing needed for this photo I changed the shadow and highlights slightly cropped the image and for this was I changed the clarity by a very small amount because it gave more detail to the photo which I though looked really good.
I really like these photos I think they work really well especially compared to Walker Evans work with the classic white background with the seemingly quite basic everyday object.
I think for these the birds eye view shot I got works the best as it would be hard to photograph then from eye level as they are flat and cant be stood up.
For these i had the shutter speed set up at 1/100 secs and the aperture was at f/6.3. For these I had two ring lights on either side for the lighting was even and I had the lights on cool toned because it felt like it worked better based on the inspiration. However I did also take some with coloured gel sheets in font of the lights which did end up looking really interesting.
I think the photos I took of the colouring pencils although don’t fit the inspiration artist Walker Evans like I was originally planning they seem more nostalgic. This is because of the bright and vivid colours were something I liked a lot as a child.
For these images I used a tri-pod to stand up the camera so I could take the photo from that point of view and so that the photos would be extremely still. I used two spot lights either side of the object to illuminate the objects. I think the two photos contrast together from the one on the left being so uniform and organised compared to the one on the right which is very chaotic and messy.
This photoshoot was a different way to interpret and represent still life and i took more inspiration from Vanitas style photos where they often tried to represent and have themes of death in their photos. I tried to recreate that why having the skull to show a quite literal idea of death but then I also used a book for more of an abstract idea of it suggesting the story of your life.
