Still life debate

[corry]

Hi all!! I haven't been on the board here for ages......way too long...seems life has got in the way and I haven't kept up with the photography side of things but I have been taking shots and I just won first place in our local fair in the photog. section but we have had an ongoing debate about WHAT you consider still life to be?

should it only include "things that have life" like flowers and fruit etc or encompass any inanimate objects? I'd value your opinions on this as we strive to improve our fair categories and make the most of this growing section.

[DogHeadGod]

I would regard still life to be any collection of objects you purposfully arrange for the soul intention to photograph it

[rosserx]

A still life is anything that doesn't move or is dead. But the real essence of a still life (for me) is in the use of symbolism. Telling a story. For example, a vase filled with beautiful flowers on a table by a window will make a lovely picture. What if one of the flowers is wilted, it can mean a fleeting moment, here today gone tomorrow, life is short.

Take a look at some great still life paintings in history, its all about symbolism!

[corry]

I agree with you and it makes total sense to me.....the one gal in the discussion just couldn't get past the "Life" part of still life....she was bound and determined that still life meant something living like fruit or flowers..........we just gave up on our argument that inanimate objects ARE part of still life category. So for next year i want some printed evidence and more opinions to share with her LOL. Thanks.

[JFSanders]

Still life genre is a expansion of the portrait, landscape genres. It allows the photographer to "make" a collection of objects fit his compositional requirements to tell the story the way he wants. Look to Weston for an idea of what still life photography demands. Your friend needs enlightenment.

[AgBeard]

A still life (plural still lifes [1]) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural (food, flowers, plants, rocks, or shells) or man-made (drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, and so on) in an artificial setting. With origins in ancient times and most popular in Western art since the 17th century, still life paintings give the artist more leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a composition than do paintings of other types of subjects such as landscape or portraiture. Still life paintings, particularly before 1700, often contained religious and allegorical symbolism relating to the objects depicted. Some modern still life breaks the two-dimensional barrier and employs three-dimensional mixed media, and uses found objects, photography, computer graphics, as well as video and sound.

SOURCE: Wikipedia
Emphasis mine