Irving Penn is a classic still life photographer, well established and contributing to vogue. These are a selection of his varied still lives which lend themselves well to the subject matter of the river. The possibilities of finding objects washed up onto the banks and beaches along my travels mean that I may be able to reproduce these beautifully interesting and inquisitive studies of found objects. I especially feel that the left image, Camel Pack found objects with grasses and pigeon feather 1975 is incredible, the inclusion of the environment that the object was found increases its poignance, it's texture and its feeling. I saw these images a retrospective book of his work and even inside the images are produced larger than original scale, this has powerful connotations and is something I should consider when making my own still lives.
I also need to consider and experiment with the technical element of creating these still lives, do I want to make the work in the field using flash heads or in the studio. This involves removing the object from the environment and as my work is centered around experience and place I feel that by doing so I may be changing the aesthetic. I will however experiment with using film as well as paper when making the still lives to have the option of enlargements.
The background Penn uses with his textured finish and not sticking to super clean whites and shadowless aesthetic is a more classical painterly finish, it is another area which I want to explore and consider when making the work. I think that using a textured cotton canvas off white would work well with my ideas and outputs so far.
The cigarettes in his pictures take on a new interest, the tarnished nature of their stigma works well in the photographs and alongside this they take on a new appeal. As visually interesting objects, this is the power of removing an object from the environment and taking the time to photograph it in a studio environment.
I also need to consider and experiment with the technical element of creating these still lives, do I want to make the work in the field using flash heads or in the studio. This involves removing the object from the environment and as my work is centered around experience and place I feel that by doing so I may be changing the aesthetic. I will however experiment with using film as well as paper when making the still lives to have the option of enlargements.
The background Penn uses with his textured finish and not sticking to super clean whites and shadowless aesthetic is a more classical painterly finish, it is another area which I want to explore and consider when making the work. I think that using a textured cotton canvas off white would work well with my ideas and outputs so far.
The cigarettes in his pictures take on a new interest, the tarnished nature of their stigma works well in the photographs and alongside this they take on a new appeal. As visually interesting objects, this is the power of removing an object from the environment and taking the time to photograph it in a studio environment.