Still Life Photography – A demanding art form?

Still Life Photography – A demanding art form?

When glancing through the articles in many of the magazines and supplements that lay upon our coffee tables it’s often easy to overlook the countless photographs, illustrating products or people without giving it a great deal of thought as to how the image was composed.

Still life photography after all, is defined as a “depiction of an inanimate subject matter”.

Falling into two categories, the first being created or fashioned by the photographer into a thoughtful shot and the second, usually occurring by natural means, that is, having had no input from the artisan in creating the final scene.

Looking back, taking shots of bowls of fruit, bottles of wine and vases, containing flowers seems a bit old hat now as the world of digital photography has moved on to another level, and the need for originality can be demanding as with any art form.

Setting the scene in creating still life, means creating an environment for the subject that you are trying to capture in order catch the eye of viewer.

I often spend hours breaking down photographs and analysing images. In a way, it’s almost like reverse engineering a photograph in order to visualise the technical set up and elements that make up an image, that we often taken for granted.

So, the next time you innocently glance at a photograph in your favourite magazine, have a second look, take some time, and have a look at the composition, style and lighting.