In the 1970s, in Western culture, challenging the now abstract art, a new trend of painting arose - photorealism (or hyperrealism, superrealism). Huge canvases of oil painting, which only the size differs from the photo. There has never been anything like this in art - the artists took as a basis not life, but photography, moreover, everyday, amateur photography. In the pictures of photorealists - banal everyday life, impersonal, two-dimensional, cold, impersonal, unemotional reality, passed through photography. Superreality is combined with detachment when copying such photographs. The ideology of photorealism is the recognition that advertising, television and, mainly, photography in its various manifestations so dominate the visual perception modern man that displace reality as such. A photograph is an object as real and important as reality - a photograph is often even more convincing than reality itself. Arguing about the principles of modern visual perception and the role of the artist in society, photorealism became the first conceptual art.
Photorealism proved that photography is the most adequate visual language for modern consciousness and perception, the basis of all modern visual culture.
Ralph Goings. "Blue napkin holder". 1980
Ralph Goings.
Modern photography (contemporary photography - current photography) was formed in the 1990s, when artists began to work with photography as a medium. Modern photography does not exist outside the context and is incomprehensible to an unprepared viewer. Photography has ceased to be an aesthetic object. All modern photography can be divided into two areas:
1. Conceptual photography (explores itself);
2. Interdisciplinary photography (related disciplines can be: science, culture, sociology; for example, social studies or cultural dialogue with classical photography).
In parallel with modern photography, there is Fine art (beautiful art, art about beauty), the only task of which is to convey the beauty of the surrounding world. To contemporary photography Fine art does not apply.
Conceptual photography is photography about photography, art that analyzes art. She is busy exploring herself: her own language, her function, her role, her nature.
The main task of the artist is to make the viewer think, while the conceptual photography asks questions rather than provides answers. While a photograph is being created, research and reasoning is taking place, they are more important than the final result - the photograph itself. Photography is just a media, a visual form of expression of thought, an artist's research.
The series in modern photography has new meaning- this is not a photo history, as in modernism, but a typology, like Karl Blossfeldt. With the exception of some authors, artists work in series (a statement is born only in a series), where each individual photograph is not a kind of story.
Initially, concept photography was aesthetically unsightly, documentary, and pictorially uninteresting. Thus, the artists defined a new language of photography, a new purpose. Having removed from the image all the usual triggers of classical photography (“the decisive moment”, composition, emotions, gestures, a recognizable scene, highlighting the main thing), the artists sought to make the viewer look at the photograph itself, think about its nature. Conceptual photography is nonjudgmental, dry and distant.
Later, the so-called “post-conceptual photography” appeared, which became more familiar from an aesthetic point of view and expensive to produce, which accordingly affected the price of the final work of art. As a rule, such works, following photorealism, are huge, filmed on large-format cameras and printed in such a way that all the smallest details are visible. Thanks to this way of presenting the image, the photograph approaches reality as much as possible, allowing the viewer to share the reality that is depicted in the photograph. Hyperdetalization gives hypertrophied hyperreality. At the same time, many artists use the aesthetics of amateur photography to convey their ideas.
Artists use modern language in photography, except when they enter into a cultural dialogue with art history or photography history.
The conceptual approach to photography may have dampened interest in the still life genre at first. However, thanks to some artists, the photographic still life received new stage development. So, Jan Gruver (1943-2012) turned kitchen utensils into skillful compositions. Grover often prioritizes form over content, while almost eliminating the theme from his work. Her compositions often consist only of the edges of objects cut beyond recognition. Texture is just as important as form. Gruver's photographs in this series are less of kitchen utensils and more of complex, sometimes abstract depictions of spatial arrangements involving shape, color and texture.
Jan Gruver. Untitled. 1978
The work of the Swiss artists Peter Fischli (b.1952) and David Weiss (1946-2012) establishes photography as a means by which the artist is able to present the ordinary, but in their case it is skewed, conditional, dubious. For their Balance/Quiet Afternoon series, they've taken everyday objects and balanced them in unstable structures in such a way that the strange sculptures teeter on the brink of collapse. Their gravity-defying sculptures have a piquant fragility and fragility, and the camera made them eternal.
Peter Fischli and David Weiss. "Quiet Afternoon" 1984-1985
Nobuyoshi Araki (b. 1940), who is considered a genius and the greatest living Japanese photographer, has a special interest in the subject of femininity, the female figure and sex. With the help of the core of a ripe, slightly wrinkled fruit, Araki repeated the shape of the female organ. Creating the series "Erotos" in 1993, Araki came up with the name, combining in it two themes that play a key role in his art: the themes of Eros and Thanatos (according to the theory of Z. Freud, "Eros" - love, creation, sex, life, " Thanatos" - the desire for cruelty, aggression, sadism and death). In Araki's photographs, these forces clash: the source of male lust is the fruit, which has already begun to mold and decay. Art critic Jerry Badger said, "Pornography is really in the eye of the beholder."
Nobuyoshi Araki. "Erotos". 1993
Photo Margriet Smulders "Love conquers all" gives rise to conflicting feelings. In it, the influence of paintings of the 17th century is noticeable and echoes of the theme of home comfort are heard. Beauty here is inextricably linked with decay. The flowers in the photographs Smulders often takes with mirrors seem to be about to fall off. She herself calls the flowers "actors", depicting "the whole world, with all the relationships and dramatic situations." There is a vague menace to this photograph, with curved branches cutting through the composition here and there, and a watery blue void in the center threatening to flood the whole picture and destroy the fragile flowers. Smulders works in the classic still life genre, but the exaggerated, unrealistic colors create a harsh effect not normally found in photography with flowers. Like many modern photographers, Smulders saw death and the inevitability of decay in nature. Flowers in her picture seem to be separate parts of the body, like teeth and tongues, which are doomed to decay. “The lush and unusually erotic paintings take you to another dimension. Huge mirrors, frilly glass vases, thick draperies, fruits and cropped bouquets - that's what these "canvases" consist of - says Margriet Smulders herself about her work.
Margriet Smulders. "Love conquers all." 125x1100 cm. Fragment. 2005
This work is in good resolution on the author's website http://www.margrietsmulders.nl/index.php?pid=10&gallery=7 where you can scroll through it at a comfortable pace and stick to any part
Amazing Smulders site with other works http://www.margrietsmulders.nl
American photographer James Welling (b. 1951) calls his practice "the revival of modernism, but in a historical context." The Flower series is a deep analysis of photography's past, its status as it evolved. Welling places the plant cuttings on black-and-white film and exposes, their white shadows reflected against the black background of the negative. Then, with the help of color filters of different shapes, he exposes again. The result is bright photograms of flowers - their dark outlines on a white background with a myriad of soft radiant shades. John Herschel coined the term "photography" (writing with light), while William Henry Fox Talbot coined another term - "sciography" (the art of shadows). The "Flower" series is the fruit of both definitions: the first stage (creating a negative) uses the shadow of a plant, the second (creating a colored positive) fills the shadow with bright light, giving birth to a photograph. Welling reminds that the shadow plays the same important role when creating a photograph, just like light. "It's not that I'm not interested in content, but content isn't the only thing that gives meaning to a photograph," says Welling.
James Welling. From the "Flower" series. Author's photogram technique. 2006
Photographs of flowers on the Welling website, where you can find other projects http://jameswelling.net/projects/17
Monumental abstractions by Christian Marclay (b. 1955) - "Reminder (Survival of the fittest)". The name serves as a clue - it is a reminder of a dying medium. Upon closer examination, broken cassettes become visible, it becomes clear that an unwound magnetic tape is stretched along the entire image. For his allusion to Darwin's theory and the "extinction" of cassettes, Marclay skillfully recreated the almost extinct 19th century cyanotype technology and imitated the "extinct" style of abstract impressionism and Jackson Pollock.
Christian Marclay. "The strongest survives". Cyanotypes. 2008
“Radiations emanate from the real, “being there” body, touching me, located at another point; with my gaze, the body of the photographed thing connects the semblance of an umbilical cord, ”wrote Roland Barthes, and his words echoed Susan Sontag’s statement that“ photography allows the object depicted on it to touch us like belated star rays. A trace, a pointer, any thread that connects photography with reality are interestingly woven into the work of British photographer Richard Learoyd (Richard Learoyd) (b.1966). In his workshop, he developed a completely new technology Photo. Using the room as a darkroom, he creates huge canvases on positive photographic paper. The light that bounces off the object is the same light that shines into your eyes. As Barthes would say, the object and the viewer are connected by an umbilical cord of photons. Learoyd's mirror images seem incredibly close; such photographs were called by the early theoreticians of photography "the madness of matter" or, as André Bazin said, "a hallucination that is at the same time true."
In the photo “Concrete blocks with a hare”, the lifeless body of a hare “holds” concrete blocks in a semi-suspended state, representing a frozen parody of life. Learoyd's reproductions, like many other contemporary artists, rarely resonate with viewers. His innovative photography technique allows him to create monumental images with incredibly sharp detail, even when viewed up close. Spectators are attracted by huge canvases with hyper-realistic images. In the photograph presented here, such a force of presence, such credibility create a sharp contrast with the lifeless torso of a dead animal. Learoy's use of positive photographic paper evokes one of the first forms of photography (which became popular for photographing the dead): the daguerreotype. The light comes directly from the object and settles on the surface of the daguerreotype, where, just as in Learoyd's technique, there is no intermediate negative.
Richard Learoyd. "Concrete blocks with a hare." 2007
Video about Learoyd and his camera http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/694
Most of the works of the German master Thomas Demand (b. 1964) are copied from photographs, including from the news, acquiring a triple meaning: in fact, these are photographs of paper sculptures of photographs of the original image. The realization of this leads the viewer's eye down along the gallery of mirrors, where the difference between reality and fiction becomes apparent. Demand starts by selecting a photograph, then creates a life-size 3D copy out of paper and cardboard, which he destroys after the photo is taken. The source photographs often depict famous events, such as his work "Poll Office" he reproduces photographs of the Palm Beach Emergency Operations Center, where the presidential elections of the 2000s were held. The picture raises the question of the process of "contemplating paper with holes for more than 6 weeks, when two hundred or three hundred sheets of paper would significantly affect the fate of this world." At first glance, the image in the picture looks like a large office. However, upon closer inspection, it is noticeable that all phones are the same, the surfaces are flat and this is an office made of paper. Paper is both a relief image medium and an image object (bulletins). Subtly imitating reality, Demand raises the question of the authenticity of the photograph. Can photos be trusted? Is what it depicts real?
Thomas Demand. "Voting point". 2001
Demand's work on his website (don't forget that it's all just paper) http://www.thomasdemand.info/images/photographs/
People often perceive photography as a carrier of information that truly captures a part of the world. The work of Ori Gersht (b. 1967) complicates this view by forcing the viewer to look for discrepancies between photography and human vision. The "Explosion" image from the "Time After Time" series shows a hyper-realistic image that splits time into tiny particles, which is beyond the power of the human eye. It also brings to the surface the tension that reigns between beauty and cruelty. Gersht admits: "I'm interested in opposites - beauty and rejection, how the moment of destruction during the explosion of the bouquet becomes for me the moment of creation." Gersht first froze the flowers with liquid nitrogen, then placed tiny explosive projectiles between the petals and captured the moment of the explosion with high-speed digital cameras and a specially designed electronic contraption that fired them. The bouquet of flowers was immortalized at the moment of the explosion.
Ori Gersht. "Bouquet of flowers". 2000
Another project on the CRG Gallery website http://crggallery.com/artists/ori-gersht/
Sharon Core (b.1965) originally trained as an artist and later retrained as a photographer. Therefore, she draws a clear line between these two means of expression. Entering into a dialogue with photorealists who painted pictures from photographs, Cor creates photographs from pictures. The picture "Apples" was included in the "Colonial Style" series. When looking at this picture, it seems that this is just a photograph of a painting from the era of the old masters. "I stage the 'reality' of a 19th-century painting in terms of lighting, idea, and scale...to end up with an illusory depiction of another era." She was inspired by Raffaelle Peale, the author of more than a hundred still lifes created in the period 1812-1824. When recreating the composition from Peale's painting in her workshop, Cor attempted to turn three-dimensional objects into two-dimensional relief surfaces from the artist's painting. Her technique draws a bold line between photography and painting, leaving viewers to question the genre of the work and the role of authenticity.
Sharon Cor. "Apples". 2009
The work of Laura Letinsky (b. 1962) "Untitled No. 23" in its style resembles an old still life, where Dutch and Flemish traditions are clearly traced. She admits to being influenced by the whimsical mixture of Northern and Southern Renaissance, and her creations reflect this "ambiguous, confusing and heavy" sense of space. Letinsky's compositions are presented in natural light. For her, light is also a protagonist, "uncontrollable ... Light is able to surprise." She uses morning light for most of her work, but for the Dog and Wolf series she chose a velvety dusky glow and very slow shutter speeds. The title of the episode is an allusion to the French saying about twilight, the magical time when dogs turn into wolves.
Her large-scale photographs create an atmosphere of tangibility and intimacy, as if you just need to reach out to reach
subject. “I was struck that The Last Supper is a meal scene in which the food on the table acts as an additional character, plays a supporting role. And I thought what would happen if we remove the main characters, and leave everything else as it is. Its main emphasis is on the idea that photography shows something that no longer exists.
The discarded peel of a half-eaten orange and scattered pistachio shells - the whole scene resembles a table that has not been cleared after dinner. “I photograph leftovers and garbage to analyze the relationship between maturity and destruction, refinement and clumsiness, control and randomness.” The perspective of the image is very unusual: the table looks geometrically disproportionate, and the pistachios on the floor practically merge with the shells on the table. The ghostly composition of Letinsky creates a painful atmosphere of insecurity and the absence of a human presence in the past. "I'm interested in what happened" after ", what is left ... and what is gone forever."
Laura Letinsky. "Untitled No. 23". 2009
Each author has his own approach to still life, each solves his own problems, using unique methods of obtaining images and forms of presentation. But in any case, in modern still life, as in all modern photography, the idea comes to the fore. Depending on the statement, both the shooting method (staged or documentary) and the method of presenting the final image (plasticization, lightboxes, author's photo books, images obtained using alternative printing methods or using the first photo technologies, etc.) are chosen.
From the very beginnings of the development of photography, still life photography has always been especially popular, and all due to the fact that the photographed objects are static and motionless, and you can experiment with them without limiting yourself in time and ideas - after all, the first cameras had a very long exposure, which complicated task of capturing dynamic scenes. Today, after almost two centuries, the art of photography continues to be enriched with interesting shots with all kinds of objects arranged in a certain way and with a specific concept. Many photographers prefer this particular genre to all others, because work in it knows no boundaries.
At first glance, it may seem that shooting static objects in a still life is a simple and quick matter, but in reality everything turns out to be completely different. Difficulties begin from the very beginning, when choosing the necessary items and arranging them according to all compositional laws, and end with the arrangement of light and the selection of a winning shooting angle, which in conclusion must be beaten with high-quality image processing. Photographers spend hours or even a whole day on such work - otherwise you won’t get professional shots.
Features of shooting still life
The advantage of working with still life is that you don't have to look for a special place to shoot or a mountain of professional equipment. Even a home environment is suitable as a location: choose a place lit by daylight or use a flash, select and build a suitable background yourself - and you can shoot.
Unlike shooting portraits and landscapes, for example, you need far fewer additional details. But the main difference is that you will have as much time to work as you need, because interacting with the subject is much easier: you can rearrange them, remove unnecessary ones, add new ones, try an infinite number of angles and embody any ideas. With people, energetic resources which are limited, there will be no such opportunities in shooting.
When shooting people, animals or landscapes, photographers often have to do everything almost on the run, but with non-living objects everything is different: you can think through every little thing and create a truly perfect shot.
Among other things, still life photography has always been valued in commercial photography, so good shots can bring not only aesthetic pleasure, but also a good profit. In the modern world, more and more magazines, catalogs and other publications of various kinds are being published, in which it is necessary to demonstrate a wide variety of items and goods: food and ready meals, drinks, accessories, clothes, interior items and much more. Such photos can be independently promoted on the Internet using special exchanges and other resources.
What to photograph?
For many, the still life genre in photography seems classic, standard and predictable, in which the main place in the frame goes to vegetables, fruits or flowers. In fact, what to photograph depends only on your imagination and preferences. Take a look around and look for objects that can tell their story, no matter how unusual they are. After all, here, as in any other genre, there is a place for originality and creativity.
You can find unusual or interesting things for shooting anywhere: on a walk, in a cafe and in many other places. Remember or write down the idea that has arisen in your head when you see the object you like and try to embody it in your home environment. For beginners, it is recommended to start with simpler objects, avoiding glass and metal, which are difficult to match with lighting. Having practiced on something understandable, you can choose more complex shapes, combining objects with each other in beneficial combinations.
Lighting setup
The advantage of still life photography is that it is not necessary to purchase expensive lighting equipment for it, as is necessary for studio shooting. Remember that you are in complete control of the entire workflow, so you can deal with the light with a minimum amount of equipment and at home.
You can use not only any artificial light source, but even daylight natural light. In the first case, you can simply block out daylight by tightly covering the windows with blinds and curtains, building up all the light in an artificial way. In the case of daylight, you just need to choose the brightest point in the room, near the window, which is not obstructed by trees, buildings and other obstacles.
It may seem to some that you can’t take good pictures with ordinary incandescent lamps, but this is not so. The main thing is to learn how to work with artificial sources light, experimenting with their arrangement. You can illuminate an object not only from the front, which can be quite boring, but also from the side and even from behind, achieving interesting results. But if you have a high-quality and strong source of natural light, then do not neglect it, but be sure to try using it in shooting objects: it can be supplemented with special light reflectors, or it can be combined with a lamp.
You can make a light reflector yourself using cardboard and foil.
Working with angles
An excellent assistant in photographing static objects and still lifes is a special tripod for the camera, which allows it to hold firmly in the right position and shoot frames even with very slow shutter speeds. In addition to it, you can purchase a remote control that will allow you to watch the shooting from the side.
How to use the tripod full power? With it, you can watch the plot and use many interesting angles - the main thing is not to forget to change them, otherwise the camera can stand in one position for the entire photo shoot, which will make the pictures the same type. A camera tripod should emphasize the variety of shooting angles, and in no way limit your ideas. Change the position of the camera, rearrange the tripod to the most unexpected places, change the light and settings - all this will help create a variety of shots that you want to consider.
When moving equipment, remember to ensure that the lighting is not obscured.
What background should you photograph?
Proper selection of the background for a still life plays an important role in creating a high-quality picture. The background should be simple and neutral, so as not to draw attention away from the subject. When choosing a backdrop, stop at a plain wall, and if there is none, then use white cardboard or any other suitable color. You can also use a light and unobtrusive pattern, but only if it does not stand out too much, breaking the harmony of the picture.
When choosing a background shade, pay attention to how it interacts with the subjects being photographed. You can choose both a neutral white color and a more complex shade that will complement the picture.
If you're shooting small subjects, you may not need a backdrop. Just pick the surface you lay on desired subject. A popular option in this case is black velvet fabric, which absorbs color well and looks even.
compositional rules
As with any other form of photography, composition plays an important role in still life photography. It is she who largely determines whether the picture will turn out or not. The right composition will make your work unique, interesting to the viewer and very memorable.
Most important rule that every photographer knows is the rule of thirds. Follow it and you will get pictures that are nice to look at. Also, do not forget that the frame should be composed in such a way that it does not contain distracting details, but only the essentials: highlight the main subject and the background.
To create beautiful pictures, use all your imagination and do not be afraid of non-standard solutions. Think about where the viewer is looking while viewing the photo, and how the empty space in the frame is used and whether it should be filled. It is necessary to carry out great job and understand how to present the photographed object in the best light, showing not only its beauty, but also reflecting the meaning invested in the work. Yes, the context also needs to be worked on: you have to decide whether the item will look good on its own, or whether it is worth adding additional details to it. Only by working through all of the above points, you will be able to create a frame that is perfect from a compositional point of view.
Still life photography mistakes
Every photographer who is just getting started in still life and still life photography faces roughly the same set of pitfalls as everyone else. Do not be upset if at first you encounter difficulties, because they teach us the correct understanding of the shooting process and work with all the subtleties and nuances of still life photography. It is worth analyzing the most common reasons due to which mistakes and shortcomings are made in the work.
- Not enough practice . All skills and work experience are acquired only during the filming process, so you need to train and fill your hand as much and as often as possible. Shooting in free time, you will soon learn how to set the appropriate camera settings and work with many parameters. This also includes working with composition: the more you experiment, the faster you will begin to understand the principles of its construction and vision.
- Unfinished idea . It all starts with an idea, and only after a clear idea of the future photo is formed, objects and details, as well as the background, are selected for it. The artistic message and the inherent meaning are very important, without them the whole process of shooting “something” will be a failure.
- Poor lighting work . You must clearly see that there is no excess or lack of light, otherwise any, even the most original and creative idea will be ruined. You can use daylight, special external flashes, lamps and even candles - the main thing is that the subject is properly lit. Keep in mind that working with reflectors will improve the result, so try not to use direct light.
- Working with sophisticated equipment . A beginner and any other photographer does not have to chase expensive equipment - good shots with still lifes are obtained even at minimal cost. The quality of the image directly depends on the skill, and not on how much money was invested in the work.
- Inconsistency of style . You can always experiment with colors, combinations of objects, textures and textures, shapes. But you should not try to wedge an object into the picture that absolutely does not fit into the composition in terms of style, era, or other obvious parameters.
- Mistakes in background selection . The back of a photo is not a trifle at all, but a detail that can easily “kill” a photo, make it unsightly and even repulsive. Be especially careful when choosing a background for a still life: if it does not appear in any way in the idea and composition, then choose neutral shades that will not draw attention to yourself. For example, you can choose a white color with a simple texture.
The main thing you need to know about successful and high-quality still life shooting is that you should shoot constantly, get your hands on it whenever possible and even on any objects, and then you will be able to achieve good results in this craft and even start making money from it.
Still life as a genre of art appeared in the distant 15th century and then had a very clear religious connotation. Many images of saints were framed with flower arrangements. Already in the 17th century, still life was finally formed as a genre, at the same time the basic rules of composition and classical techniques arose.
Since the advent of photography, still life has not lost its popularity, even though most of today's photographers are attracted by the possibility of shooting in action. Masters tend to shoot something momentary and unexpected, static images are less attractive and interesting for many.
Some may mistakenly think that still life photography is not a difficult type of photography, because it may seem that photographing something that does not move and does not change over time is not so difficult. In fact, still life photographs are the result of long monotonous work. A still life photographer must work with light and objects all the time. He periodically swaps subjects, backgrounds and angles.
As great examples of still life photographs, we will show you pictures Paulette Tavormina – famous photographer from New York. Living in big city, Paulette found her own way to escape from the hustle and bustle. She disappears for hours in her own studio, shooting still lifes, consisting of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Paulette Tavormina's photographs are reminiscent of classic images of classical painting. They are highly artistic and mesmerizing.
Paulette Tavormina also creates amazing arrangements of flowers, plants and small insects on the plane. The images are more like illustrations from books on botany or amazing plant patterns.
Paulette Tavormina's photographs are in museums, corporate and private collections and have been presented in Paris, London, Moscow, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. Paulette is a self-taught photographer, she developed her unique technique of still life photography herself, studying on the paintings of Dutch masters.
vegetable patterns
Still life can rightly be called one of the most difficult genres in any kind of fine art. And in photography as well. Nature, for example, is beautiful in itself. In order to create a good landscape, it is enough for an artist to find an attractive place, in other words, a beautiful nature, and convey the state of nature on the canvas. Yes, it is certainly difficult. Very difficult. Not everyone is able to convey the mood in the picture. Its harder to do this in a still life. After all, in a still life, unlike, say, a landscape or a portrait, the artist himself organizes this nature, builds the composition himself, selects objects for the image ... All this applies to photographers as well. When working on a still life big role the creative imagination of the author plays, knowledge of the laws of composition, feeling of texture and light ... After all, unlike the landscape already created before the artist by nature and man, the artist creates a still life from scratch, organizes it on clean slate. Where there was nothing before. This is probably why not every artist can create a good still life. Just look at the painters. Are there many real masters of still life among them? There are many more portrait and landscape painters…. The same can be said about the art of photography.
In this article, we will try to tell you how to create a good photographic still life. Of course, we will give some advice in this regard. We hope that they will help you in your creative work. They will stimulate creativity.
How does a still life begin?
A still life begins with an idea, that is, in other words, with an idea. Look around - which of what is in your house is of interest as an object for compiling a still life composition? What objects are “asking” for the frame? Old and “textured” objects look very good in a still life - various vases, clocks, old books, porcelain figurines, table lamps, sets, candlesticks and candles, some things made of coarse and large weave fabric - napkins, tablecloths ... Look good in still lifes of fruits and vegetables. Flowers are also one of the favorite objects of still life painters. Moreover, the flowers are not only alive, but also dried. There is no limit to fantasy. A variety of objects are suitable for still life. The main thing is that all these objects harmonize with each other in form, color, texture, meaning ... Well, for example, what is the idea to combine in one still life, for example, pliers and a vase of apples?
Let's start well, at least with the simplest composition: a still life, the main "character" of which will be a bowl of fruit. Someone will say that such a still life is the most common, common and far from new. So what! Agree, what could be more beautiful and interesting than beautiful fruits in a beautiful vase? This will be the idea of our still life. Now let's decide which items we have can be placed next to such beauty, what textures and colors will be in harmony with the colors and textures of the fruit and the vase itself. Given all this, remember the semantic content of the still life. After all, a still life, like any other painting, must tell a story. Well, imagine, for example: a vase with apples, pears and cherries, and next to it are several wild flowers and a mug of milk. All this is located on a simple wooden rustic table. Here is a story about an early morning in the village!
Choosing a location for still life photography
Anything can serve as a subject table for a still life. Any table in your home can play this role. And not only the table. Items for still life photography can be placed on the windowsill, on the bedside table, even on the shelf in the closet. The main criterion here is the strength of this object table and its sufficient area. So that there is a place where your creative imagination would feel calm, so that it would be spacious and easy to live there. Even on the floor, you can organize compositions from objects for shooting still lifes. Well, if the surface on which you set your items is unsightly or does not fit at all according to all possible criteria for the still life you are working on, then you can cover it with a beautiful cloth: a tablecloth or a napkin. You can just put a piece of paper or beautiful plywood on it, for example.
Don't forget about the background of your still life. The background in this genre of fine art plays a very important role. After all, it is he who sets the whole mood of the picture (and photography, of course)! Well, for example, if the background of your still life is black, burgundy, dark brown, or consisting of a combination of these colors, then your picture will turn out to be dramatic, in some way even somewhat gloomy. A light background - white, pink, light green, blue - will give the still life tenderness, sensuality, romance. On a light background it is good to shoot "female" still lifes, on a dark background - "male". That is, those on which still life objects seem to belong to a woman or a man, or are intended for them.
The material for the background of a still life can be plywood or cardboard, painted in the desired color, any other material, preferably not glare, but matte. It is very difficult to work with a glare background even for good masters of photography. If you use fabric as a background, then it can be beautifully draped, that is, laid in spectacular folds. Some people manage to shoot still lifes without using the background as a subject at all. You can do this if you do not use natural light, but shoot only under artificial lighting in a dark room. In this case, the lighting devices must be directed exclusively at the photographed objects themselves. At the same time, everything else that remains outside this light spot goes into complete darkness and turns into a deep, beautiful matte black background.
Building a still life composition
Creating a composition is perhaps the most difficult stage in working on a still life. To some, this step may seem insignificant, uncomplicated. It seems to be, at first glance, everything is simple: put beautiful objects on the table beautifully - and start photographing them. But that's not the case at all. More precisely, absolutely not! Very quickly you will realize that some objects do not harmonize with each other, for example, in color, in size, in meaning ... The composition turns out to be disproportionate, “falls over” to one side or the other. In short, the realization that this stage in the work on a still life is the most difficult and most important will come to you sooner or later. And you will understand that it’s not that perfect, but even just correctly placing objects for a still life is a very, very difficult task. And far from every photographer and artist can solve it quickly.
So, let's get down to the actual work. We begin to create the composition of our future still life.
First of all, we need to determine what will be the center of interest in our still life for the viewer. Simply put, what will be the main object in our picture, the one around which the whole story will be built up and wrapped around. Well, since we started talking about still life using the example of a vase of fruit, let's continue this topic. Let it, this vase, be the center, the main object of the whole composition.
First of all, you need to take into account that the semantic and geometric centers of any picture, including photography, and, of course, still life, do not always coincide. In short, if our fruit bowl is clearly in the center of the frame area, at the intersection of its diagonals, this is bad (most often bad. But do not forget that there are exceptions to any rules ...). So we recommend moving the vase to one side of the frame. You can put or put one or more items next to it. Well, for example, put one apple near the vase. Or put a beautiful glass of wine next to it ... If you like, you can leave a vase of fruit in splendid isolation. And it can also be beautiful and harmonious. But, nevertheless, it will be quite difficult to do this. Minimalism has always been a complex genre in fine arts. The simpler the better it is main principle minimalism. And to bring it to life, into reality, not every artist can do it. So for starters, we recommend that you still compose a still life composition of several items. But do not forget that all these objects are interconnected in meaning, harmonize in color, shape, size and texture. For example, if red apples are comfortably located in your vase, then next to it, on a beautiful snow-white tablecloth, you can put a proud red rose. Or a red poppy. But, let's say, the mixer you brought from the kitchen, even if it is red, will be completely inappropriate in this composition. We must strive to ensure that the objects in the still life complement each other, and do not argue with each other, do not cause a feeling of bewilderment in the viewer.
So, we decided on the compositions. Let's move on to the next step:
We put the light
Correctly set or chosen light in a still life is no less important than its composition itself.
If you are working on a still life at home, not in a special studio, but in your apartment, then it is best to start shooting in natural, daylight. In this case, we recommend placing the object table not far from the window or in front of it. Soft, diffused, and at the same time directional light falling from the window on your subject composition will create beautiful, long, rough shadows from objects, and at the same time will favorably emphasize and reveal the texture of these objects, give them volume.
As strange as it may seem to you, it is quite easy to control and regulate the natural sunlight from the window. This is easy to do by manipulating various reflectors and dampers made, for example, from cardboard, plywood or other materials that are at hand. The reflector, for example, can be an ordinary sheet of A4 paper leaning against something on your object table. Yes, even a newspaper folded in a “hut” and placed next to it can work as a reflector! And you can shade the light from the window with the help of window curtains or blinds.
If you are working on your still life in the evening, and daylight is simply not available to you, you have to work with artificial light. As a source of such light, the most ordinary flash is well suited. You just need to put a diffuser on it. If this is not done and shot without a diffuser, harsh, rough and ugly shadows may form on the background. If you have a good source of constant artificial light at your disposal, then it is better to use it in conjunction with a softbox.
As an additional light source, you can use a table lamp. A beam of light from it, for example, can be directed to the background. But in this case, it should be placed away from the background, at a distance of about one meter. Otherwise, the light spot on the background will be very sharp, rough and ugly. A table lamp can also be installed behind the composition of objects you have built and used as a source of backlight.
Here you go. The composition is built. Light is set. All is ready. We start filming. Still lifes are best shot from a tripod. Why? Because you may need to work hard enough to achieve certain goals. long exposures. And without a tripod, such shooting is simply impossible. The camera must be stable. An example here is the still lifes of Vaclav Jiru, a classic of Czechoslovak photography from the middle of the last century, which he created in his studio or outside it at night, exclusively in moonlight, without using any additional light sources. Well, and if you don’t set such high goals for yourself, then when shooting handheld, try to hold the camera so that it does not shake. Lubrication, blurring in the still life are excluded. This is such a genre in art - everything should be clear.
In the process of shooting a still life, we recommend rearranging objects from place to place, feel free to change the light, move its sources in different directions. Shoot with different shutter speeds and different apertures. Change other settings on your camera. Shoot from different angles, from different shooting points. Shoot with different lenses. Improvise on the go! Look for different options! It is in the process of shooting a still life that a certain excitement arises, a kind of courage. You will want to build more and more still life compositions, more and more lighting schemes. Do not hold down the flight of your creative imagination! Perhaps today you will create your own best frame, which will then glorify you!
Yes, and one more note. Our last recommendation for today. If your still life has a lot of white in it, before you start photographing, we strongly recommend that you remember to correctly set the white balance in the camera settings. Otherwise, later, in the process of post-processing the image on a computer, you will have to pretty tinker with color correction in graphics editor. In other words, in Photoshop.
