Happy Valentine's Day!
I hope everyone, free or ball-and-chained, has a wonderful little holiday!
Been busy working on learning how to develop color film. Here is a shot I did today using Kodak Ektar 100 film which I developed personally. I love the results! Film definitely has its own feel . . . . feels more real than digital.
Experimenting with Ideas
Still Lifes are rated extremely low on the totem pole in the Art and the Photographic world. The art world has always regarded still life paintings as sub-par, and, I believe, they still do today. Even the Dutch Masters in the 17th century regarded the Vanitas-movement as not really worthy of higher recognition. The same with photography.
I think it’s because people want to look and feel; it’s all about instant responses. You know the Afghan Girl? Yeah, powerful image and the photographer didn’t even know he had something until his editor processed and published it. Still Lifes are difficult to do because they don’t always have that instant gratification. It can take time to understand what is going on in the image to grasp the full-meaning.
Still lifes are my most favorite form of painting and photography. They represent a marvelous way of conveying philosophy and metaphysical values. I don’t want to come across as high-minded in the age where photography is more about instant reactions and emotion, but I love still lifes because they can make you think in a variety of ways that will often surprise yourself, even if they can be really boring to look at.
So, I’m presenting you with a still life.
Normally, the artist/photographer doesn’t reveal the meaning behind such symbolism . . . as if they don’t want to reveal how the bunny got into the hat. Maybe because they were tired of trying to sort out the whole thing and decided it was best to lay it out for the audience and let them sort the mess out? Laziness. It shouldn’t be: I’m leaving the meaning up to you, I’m sure you’ll figure it out. No artist should want that. Personally, I believe the audience has a right to know what the artist/photographer is thinking. Putting it all in their lap to decide the meaning is just foolish and lazy. Kinda like that banana duct-taped-to-a-wall crap?
If you prefer not knowing my thought behind this photo, just view the image below and not read beyond!
Skulls have a variety of meaning—death, predominantly. I’m using it as a transition-of-sorts in this case. Throughout history, death is viewed in many different ways. Often as a hopeful sign of transition from one life to the next. I chose to use the lopsided skull as a sign of transition , but not anything necessarily grounded as death. There’s still room to learn even in the face of such an absolution.
Daisies typically represent purity and innocence in past cultures. However, these blossoms are withered. Freya is the nordic goddess of Love and her flower is the daisy. For the Nords, the daisy stands for beauty and innocence and youth. I chose to let these blossoms wither, but not completely die, in the eye sockets, as a sign of transitional life through knowledge. Wisdom requires the absence of all innocence, afterall.
The book represents knowledge. Kind of clichéd, I know, but I made sure the book’s binding remained skewed as a sign of another way of thinking. And, note, the pages proceed forward to the end . . .
The light is focused on the skull. I intended this to stand as the primary focus and as a sign that the brain is the driving force behind all human thought. Should I have wanted a more divine sign the whole image would have been lit up equally, but I allowed the majority of the image to remain dark as a sign of the knowledge we have yet to learn. We have room to grow through wisdom and experience.
I’m curious what you think! Please comment below!