When first approaching this brief I was a little unsure of the brief and I didn’t really have any inspiration for my works therefore I began looking into still life photographers that created images that I was inspired by.
Taryn Simon
The first photographer I looked into was Taryn Simon. When looking through her various images and series, I found myself very drawn to her more simpler images which featured a plan white/cream background with one single object on display such as from her ‘Contraband’ series, which featured objects taken from passengers and mail at JFK International Airport, US Bonder Control and the US postal service. I found this series quite as it made me start to consider who these people were and why they were carrying these items, why would they take such a huge risk to smuggle these items into the country?. From this series I decided that I would like to have a similar meaning connected to the items that I would use in my own images. Another aspect of her ‘Contraband’ series that I wished to show in my own work was her use of simple white backdrop. I found this quite an interesting method as it made the audience viewing the piece more focused on the actual object in the image rather than a bright colourful background which could distract from the photos actual meaning. One more aspect of Simon’s images that I found interesting was the fact that her images were a little more low quality, I am unsure if this was intentional or not but I think it made the images more visually appealing than of they were shot in high definition. I may also apply this technique to my own work. Simon’s images are simple with a lot of meaning which I also want to portray in my own work.
Stephen Gill
The next photographer who inspired my images was photographer Stephen Gill. Gill is well known for his experimental approach to photography. When researching his work I came across some of his various still life work and I found his aesthetics so visually interesting and inspiring that I felt I had to research him for my found object project. I found one his many series named ‘Off Ground’ which was made into a book and featured bricks and other pieces of mortar from the Hackney Riots. I really liked the images featured in this book as they simply showed a piece of brick or stone however it made me consider what role that item had in the riots. had it been thrown? was it used to hurt someone? the possibilities were endless and it really made the images more intriguing to observe. An aspect of images I found interesting was the fact that they were taken in black and white which again made them more visually attractive to the audience however the fact that they were also taken on a white background made the viewer focus more on the darker areas of the image which showed the really distinctive patterns on the item. I found his images simple but very visually engaging.
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