Still Life photos...

I have always loved images of Still Life. I remember one particular framed image of a a still life in my Grandparents home. It was a print of a bowl of apples. It was very simple with some of the apples in the bowl and a couple sitting outside of it. I am sure most of you have, or at least remember a home that had a still life image in it somewhere.

What I like most about them will come to no surprise to most of you. If you look at the examples I have posted of some well known still life paintings, they all speak to my love of dark, rich, moody colours. The joy about still lifes are that they appear simple but yet are complex in the way they are telling a story. Often they play with senses...items that bring forth memories of smells, or tastes. Or they play with your emotions, not only through the item being depicted, but in the way they are represented through light. Plain backgrounds allow the items to stand, and speak for themselves.

Fast forward to today, and still lifes are still alive and well and have been given a new outlet in the form of photography. A friend of mine who lives in France just had his first gallery showing of his still life work. His work is simply put...Stunning. I have decided to explore this aspect of photography myself, and hope some day I can come close to his talent.

For now, I will just share some of my favorite still lifes I have taken thus far. I'm sure this will be a lesson in before and after, so stay tuned.

Still life...

Ok, so it is not a picture of  "Toronto" per say, but it is a shot from my apartment which is in Toronto. This photo was from one of those days I just pulled the camera out and started taking random shots. The flowers were left over from Hugh's birthday party, and I had just purchased the mid century piece of 'art' from a shop in Kensington market. (Seems to be my latest craze...mid century motel art!!) It is the moody colours I like in both the art piece and this shot. The daisies add a sense of brightness in my opinion. If I could paint, I would love to try and create this scene.....