Your chosen theme within

colour (e.g. people, places,

lack of colour etc). Be as
descriptive and specific as
possible.

Information about that theme

linked to a complex/wider
issue

Why you choose it (How does

it relate to Photography and
why are you personally
interested in it)

The evolution of colour within still life photography

from the 1950 to 2000.
In this unit I have been given an overall theme of colour, within this
theme I have decided to investigate and analyse the evolution of colour
between 1950 and 2000 specifically within still life photography. I will
be researching photographers and comparing and contrasting their
photographs from each decade in order to determine how still life and
colour has evolved over the past 60 years.
Like landscape or portraiture, still life is one of the great traditional art
forms. Still life more so than other types of photography gives the
photographer full control of the composition, lighting and atmosphere
of the image. Its roots firmly embedded in the romanticism of
traditional painting techniques, still life usually seeks to illustrate the
natural world and to present something more than a simple record of
the scene. When a painter works, the resulting picture will reflect what
has been in the artist's mind - predilections, frustrations, enjoyments
and moods etc. This applies to the photographer as artist too - so the
photographs represent something within us, making them each unique.
Still life within the photographic image can be open to interpretation as
each individual can view it differently and relate the subject matter
back to something personal that has a meaning or message for them
that is not experienced by anyone else. A still life photographer creates
an experience as opposed to taking a photograph. The subjects for stilllife pictures are often simple and commonplace. The familiar can be
rendered special and significant by the treatment that it's given. Just as
trivial words can provide the source for a beautiful song so trivial
objects can be arranged to form a beautiful picture.
Stanley Mitruk was a prolific artist from 1939 through 1964, and had
exhibited annually since 1943 in the Art Institutes Chicago and
Vicinity Art Exhibitions, His photographic images were mainly used
as a visual starting point for his paintings.

Which photographers have

you chosen to compare and
contrast and briefly why.

I would argue that this image

represents the suppleness of everyday
living in Chicago during the 1950s,
the economy was not in a great state
and this image could represent how
people valued the simple things that
they had on a day to day basis more
so than usual.
Although this image is black and white, Mituiks ability to capture the
light softly falling down the sides of the ceramic and glass objects
creates a photographic image that has both depth and intrigue. This
piece can be related back to traditional Spanish still life in the way that
it is set out: in a straight line, and the fact that the photo was taken from
a straight on angle. Mitruik was concerned with portraying the simpler

things that we see in our day-to-day life and glorifying them.

Stanley Mitruk was a prolific artist from 1939 through 1964, and had
exhibited annually
Another photographer concerned with this objective is the more
modern, and still practicing, Wolfgang Tilmans. Tilmans photographs
appear to be genuinely random and casual, as seen in this image: Still
Life, Grays Inn Road I (1999).
By comparing the work of these two photographers, I intend to explore
the particularly impact colour has within the genre of still-life
photography. It is also important to note that both of my chosen
photographers are arguably artists in their own right, and so my
investigation is going to be dealing with the development of still life
photography as an art form. At this stage I believe colour has an
intrinsic part to play in this evolution.