Still Life - Traditional

Still life photographs can be something so excellent, that is everyday, that is things you often miss during your daily routine, and it can also be something you stage. Like, how you stage your cup of tea next to your plate of toast, or a flower vase next to the window. one of my favourite examples of traditional still life photography is the work by Josef Sudek. .

JOSEF SUDEK AT PHOTOGRAPHY-NOW. 2012. JOSEF SUDEK AT PHOTOGRAPHY-NOW. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.photography-now.net/josef_sudek/portfolio1.html. [Accessed 24 April 2012].

Sudek’s still lifes, often rejected by photographic critics at the time, tend to feature limited tonal scales and are heavily involved with mystery and darkness. These mysterious images are powerfully personal explorations of himself, his self-examination coming from a philosophy shared by many painters of his era that symbolic form equates with inner emotions.

This thoughtful and isolated nature led to many of his still life images being shot from his studio window in Prague, using the window as a backdrop, often through a curtain of ice, dew or rain drops acting to distort the barrier between the outside world his own; and as a method of framing his chosen objects. Sudek was particularly interested in the refraction of light through glass objects and so his studio window served him well in his studies.