Still Life Photographers

Still life photography is often associated with complex lighting and elaborate flash set-ups. However window light can sometimes be enough. Different weather will produce different types of light entering through the window. This can be controlled with net curtains or taping coloured gels to the window. It is easy to use on translucent items which can be back lit.

Medieval painters and artists mostly adopted 'God's eye' as a viewpoint and used multiple and contradictory perspectives ignoring the relative scale of objects. The Renaissance artists put the work at 'man's height' and built images according to the rules of geometric perspective with a horizon and a single vanishing point.

A photographer using a high viewpoint avoids the jumble of planes and makes an image more legible. A high viewpoint shows the photographer to be a witness rather than a participant and removed from the world with a chance to be better able to interpret its meanings. A photographer can sometimes have an aloof presence.

Images in half shadow half light exaggerate their mordant character and suggest something from Satan.

Research - Andre Kertesz

Andre Kertesz
1894-1985

Mondrian's Studio, Paris 1926
I love this image because of the subtlety of light and shadow; dark and light. The door frame encourages you to look through and the stairs make you want to follow them as well.

Melancholy Tulip, New York 1939
Table top still life. The light in this image is beautiful and possibly just daylight but it gives depth and meaning to this unusual view of a flower. There is something odd about the perspective as the top of the vase is ellipsed but the bottom of the vase is not on a similar plane as the top.

In the Basement, Williamsburg 1948
The viewpoint is of 'man's height' but the interesting lines created by the tiles lead the eye into the picture and straight to the couch which is placed high up in the frame.

Intersection Blois, France 1930
Another high viewpoint which makes this image so interesting.

Eiffel Tower, Paris 1929
The high viewpoint from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower makes people beneath look like ants - but this viewpoint gives an idea of scale as we recognise that we are looking at people.

United States 1953
This is a very busy image but the washing line leads the eye to the vanishing point at the top.

Tokyo 1968
A very amusing image as if the white arrow is helping guide the men with umbrellas. This high viewpoint is improved by positioning the umbrellas off-centre. The high viewpint gives no clues to where we are with landscape or buildings which makes this image timeless and of any place and of any time.

Winter Garden, New York 1970
Reminiscent of James Welling images and an unusual viewpoint giving the final image an abstract feeling although we know exactly what we are looking at.

Martinique 1972
Wonderful use of space and light - whistful, peaceful and full of freedom.

My Images - in the style of ...

... in the style of Karl Blossfeldt

Research - Jim Phalen

Jim Phalen
1957 -
Jim seeks to capture the integrity through seeing. Without nature there is no conversation. Perception, placement, subject and time are the key elements of his paintings.

White Still Life

I love this because of it's simplicity. The composition obeys the rule of thirds and the 3 fruit are positioned in a triangle. The cloth and the wall are very similar colours but we are still able to make out which is that table top and which is the wall.

White Pomegranate

Red is a foreground colour and so by placing the pomegranate at the front we immediately see it. However the tranquility in the colours in the table and the wall help give space for our eyes to rest and take in the beauty and subtlety of the fruit.

Silk Rose
All of the items on the table are painted on the same plane and from the same perspective and represents a realistic view of the composition. The subtlety of the white cloth and the white wall complement the white rose beautifully.

Winter Light
These banal items are rendered beautiful by Jim's ability to represent them with such care and beauty.

Date Seed
I do like the pomegranate - the colour is so rich.

Vertical Arrangement
Two pomegranates and a pear. We are confused by the way these items are positioned but this does not detract from their beauty and the subtle use of colour.

Research - Karl Blossfeldt

Karl Blossfeldt
1865-1932
His theory was that natural forms were inherently reproduced in art. This series of plant photographs help confirm this view. They were clear and useful images of the plants but they also revealed the formal language of construction that are applied to objects and architecture.

Plate 38 Polystichum munitum 1928

Plate 46 Struthiopteris Germanica 1928


Plate 56 Aspidium filix mas 1928

Plate 74 Cobaea scandens

Plate 104 Papaver

Plate 120 Tellima graniflora

Plate 106 Lyonia calyculata

Plate 53 Cucurbita

These are not just documents for botany students but also tools for artists and art lovers. He proves that nature is the ultimate creative genius.

"The delicacy of a Roccoco ornament, the severity of a Renaissance chandelier, the mystically tangled scroll work of flamboyant Gothic domes, towers and the noble shafts of columns - a whole exotic language of architecture. Crosiers embossed in gold, wrought with trellises, rich sceptres: all these man-made forms find their original form in the world of plants".

Final Image - The Tap

The Tap

Evaluation

I have not followed the rule of thirds here but have position the tap centrally in the image. I purposely left a large border around the image on the 10" x 8" photographic paper as I wanted to see the frame of the negative. The enlarger I used has a neg tray that is uneven and produces the blurry border which I find appealing.
Feedback
"Love seeing the sprocket around the edge and love the fact that you have bothered to print the image".
"The white space helps the image - it looks great with such a huge border".
"Good contrasty image".
"Looks better as a print than the digital image".

Original digital image - CRW_9926
After processing and cropping

Research - Picasso

Picasso

1881 - 1983

Self Portrait (left)

The Genius of the Century - his work is unparalleled in both quality and quantity. Unlike music there can be no child prodigies in painting, however at 14 whilst at the Barcelona School of Art, he was producing work better than senior students completing their final exam projects.

Still Life with Steer's Skull

(right) In this image the table and the window are very dark and it has a feeling of barren bleakness - but this leads your eye more directly to the skull. Perhaps at this time Picasso had very little food and therefore was not able to fill his table with fruit, wine and bread. But for me it shows hopelessness. He, like me, might have despaired for the times in which he lived and this image suits that mood.

Studio with Plaster Head

(left) This is a table top study set in Picasso's studio - it shows introspection and a passion for the things he loves. In his studio he was able to exert his power and passion and this shows in this composition.

Still Life with Chair Caning

(right) The background and foreground are indistinguishable from each other. We seem to be viewing the subject through a shattered mirror. They show shards of the image on different planes. Geometry and shape are strong but we are left confused about the actual image.

Still Life with Pitcher and Apples

(left) We are on a level with the items we can tell what each item is - there is no Picasso trickery here but we are puzzled about the saucer on the top of the pitcher We need the dark patch at the bottom of the image to make sure we understand the items are on a table top.

Bread and Fruit Dish on a Table

(right) This image follows the early cubist principles. The objects are scattered thinly between the edge of the table and the curtain. The cut edge of the bread corresponds to the semi-circle of the table. All these objects are everyday items but they have one element in common they obey geometrical principles. Picasso is following Cezanne's demand for simplified forms but it gives him the opportunity to show space - the organisation of space in the picture is not uniform on one central perspective but each object is looked at from a different angle. We are looking at the bowl of fruit from above but not the bottom of the cup.

Still Life with Basket of Fruit

(left) As cubism takes hold we see items which seem indistinct and foreign to us at first - we are seeing the object from many sides but on only one plane - the canvas. Perspective is being played with and blown apart.

Still Life on a Pedestal Table

(right) The perspectives are messed up again and we don't know what we are looking at but this is not dissimilar to Still Life with Pitcher and Apples (above).