Contemporary Still Life With Reference To The Traditional

Arguably, we take still life objects for granted. We pay lack of attention to them but in some ways abuse them to the extent they become broken, consumed or forgotten. When thinking of contemporary still life, what springs to mind is paintings such as “Still Life with Vegetables and Fruit” by Vincent Van Gogh or Claude Monet’s painting of “Bouquet of Sunflowers”. However, I believe photography has modernised the way in which we interpret and admire still life objects. Photography has gone beyond the analysis of an object and raised the status of something ordinary; drawing out attention to fine detail and applying relevance to still life we may not have acknowledged before. 

Painting, Oil on Canvas
Nuenen: September, 1885
Van Gogh Museum
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Europe

Bouquet of Sunflowers, 
Claude Monet, 1881, 
oil on canvas 101 x 81.5 cm

Edward Weston had the ability to apply a democratic approach to his subject matter. His intentions were to make a commonplace/object unusual. The tonal qualities created in his photographs of imbue everyday objects, both natural and manmade. He takes simple objects and produces photographs that look like a modernist sculpture. Weston once wrote that something as ordinary and as extraordinary as a pepper "takes one beyond the world we know in the conscious mind". Western was interested in the formal qualities of mundane objects, which lead him to take a series of photographs of peppers. His lighting techniques allow us to investigate the curves, shape and design of this specific vegetable. Although at the same time, it also throws us slightly off balance. Is it just a light weight pepper we see? Or does the dark harsh lighting make it seem heavy and dense? Creating a monumental sculpture from a piece of fruit is something that differs greatly from traditional still life.

Edward Weston
Pepper #30

Edward Weston
Pepper 1930