Still Life in Analog Photography

Lockdown days are eased with  shooting stills

The art of still life is very old, I read that still life paintings in Egypt were created in 15th century BC. By the definition found on Modern Met “A still life (also known by its French title, nature morte) painting is a piece that features an arrangement of inanimate objects as its subject. Usually, these items are set on a table and often include organic objects like fruit and flowers and household items like glassware and textiles. The term “still life” is derived from the Dutch word stilleven, which gained prominence during the 16th century.”

Still life in photography

Early photography required long exposures and still life was a perfect choice. Photographers developed the idea further. The photographers still life arrangements are additional explorations, a step away from graphic arts and a step away from paintings, but in a sense still interwoven with them. My still lifes started  during lockdown as an expression of a need to create and an inability to move freely. My large format camera was sitting neglected for two years in my bag, while I was chasing landscape photos with more practical cameras concerning an Irish weather. This was a great opportunity to take my dear Toyo45a for a spin.

Continuing with Rollei Ortho 25 plus

With film a lot is achivable with scan adjustment (I use Epson Scan2) so much that in Affinity software only dust retouch is needed.

Even the weaker negative (like this above) contained a lot of information, enough for scan adjustments.

Natural light as I have aversion of artificial lights. Light was coming through the window and I used a collapsible reflector to slightly fill in on the right side.

A choice of flowers, an arrangement, decay and sensuality, fleeting moments and longing for warmth, new growth, spring, all the way to the timeless black and white. It is intentional.