still life # 2-3 ~ wherein I just can't help myself
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 09:17AM 
Dead dry flowers, tomato and cherries • click to embiggenAs I mentioned once before, my commercial still life roots keep coming back to haunt me - that and my fascination with things as they loose their luster.
WARNING: wherein, in a horrific fit of self-contradiction, I write about painting and how it effects my photography.
Still life-wise, my attention has been drawn to 17th century Dutch painting - not so much the paintings themselves but more towards the cultural underpinnings of the Dutch painters and the appreciative Dutch 'general public'. It has been opined by those who should know (art historians) that two of the philosophical bases from which the Dutch artists worked were: that God's work is evident in the world itself; that, although things in this world are mortal and transitory, no facet of God's creation is too insubstantial to be noticed, valued, or represented.
Caveat: The Dutch Calvinist idea of God and my my idea of God differ considerably.
It has also been recognized that the Dutch projected much national pride in their Art as evidenced by works that glorified their bourgeois culture, their appreciation for material goods, and their enjoyment of the sensual pleasures of life. Despite this preoccupation with the material world, or, more likely because of it (and their Calvinist beliefs), they were aware of the consequences of wrong behavior. Paintings, even those representing everyday objects and events, often provide reminders about the brevity of life and the need for moderation and temperance in one's conduct.
All of that said, I am not setting out to imitate 17th century Dutch still life painting, but I am stuck by the many similarities in the underpinnings of my contemporary photography and those of the 17th century Dutch. I have presented all this in the spirit of the more you know, the more you can know.
OK. Now you can shoot me.
Reader Comments (4)
Click...Click....Blam
I find pictures/ paintings of pears horribly cliched. They seem to be the standard decorative art of choice in so many home stores. Painted with light photos abound. Such a boring image.
Yet there I was, standing in the fruit section on Sunday morning, marveling at the colours and textures in some red pairs. I had to almost physically stop myself from buying some to take pictures.
I'm embarrassed in the extreme to note my use of the homophone pairs in place of pears in the second paragraph. You can shoot me now, too.
The flowers: interesting purple, but otherwise sort of common. The tomato and cherries grab attention; they're not what you see everyday.
Gordon: Grow a pair.