For our mini assignment for this part of the module, Still Life: Nature Morte and Vanitas, we were to recreate a painting from the 16th or 17th century, when this genre was very popular, presenting the subject with modern materials and objects. We were assigned to groups to discuss the painting given and how we were going for recreate it. In the same group as myself there was, Katie, Lauren, Jess and Sophie. We then decided on how and what we were going to do and gave ourselves a certain object we would then use in the shoot. All of us decided it would be best to shoot the following day (13.03.15), and to shoot using the Phase One camera as it would overall give us the best results with our images. It taken us around half an hour to set up, which we used the boom to attach and arrange the flowers on using masking tape, so that they were upside down. The decision to use the flowers upside down was a completely last minute idea, that we all agreed on as it was an interesting and different way to present them, rather than on the painting, were they are just in a basket properly upright.
Once we had completed arranging the flowers, we places other objects underneath them on a table with a black cloth over the top. We used objects that were similar to the ones that are in the painting such as the fruit, which we slightly changed by using apples and strawberries rather than pomegranates and peaches, due to the thought they are a more popular fruit of today's society. Shell's were also used, like they were in the painting. The use of dead roses was also an important element, a few were arranged around the bunch of flowers and then a gathering of the leaves below it, so make it appear they had fallen. In the painting the objects are arranged on two levels, unfortunately we did not have anything that was like this, only a wooden frame shown in the image below.
In all of the paintings that we had previously were shown in a seminar of Nature Morte and Vanitas examples, the light source always comes from the left hand side. We placed an Elinchrom light, on the left sides slightly in the middle so that it would light up and create shadows similar to how it is in the painting. After taking a few shots and placing the light slightly different we were then happy with where it was. After a few attempts the whole arrangement and idea of the objects did not seem right and with input from Ant and Tim, who though there was too much going on in the image and was not really working. We then decided to go for a totally different appearance and idea, and taken all of the unnecessary objects out of the picture. In some of the images taken, it emerged to us that it was much more successful without the shells, wooden frame and fruit, but with a couple of the dead roses added to the wooden board with the fallen leaves.
The meaning of our piece had slightly changed throughout our time planning the previous day and during the shoot. However we knew that it would be questioned as to why the flowers are upside down, rather than on the original painting they are displayed in a normal way. They are that way because it represent life following in to death, the fresh flowers then looking down on to dying flowers that are then followed by the dead roses that have then fell, which is portrayed as death.
A couple of complications occurred when shoot which was that he dead rose bud's were very dark and there was a few problems in lighting a couple of them on the right side. We then added the board with a gold reflector over, which worked successfully in making the rose head's lighter. This finished off our lighting and equipment that was used and was then on the road to producing our final image to use. Other problems that cropped up was the arrangement of flowers and how it had to be altered a few times to create the display we wanted, as at first there was a lot of greenery and stalk but not enough flowers, I think that this was due to fact not a lot of planning had gone into this which would of been more appropriate.
Overall I feel that our shoot worked very well and were successful in recreating our given painting. We worked well planning and shooting in the studio together and all having our own input into the final result. Although it does not look similar to the painting due to the flowers placed upside down and the lack of modern objects that were supposed to be used, it represents still life Nature Morte correctly in the way we have been learned. I would definitely like to continue shooting this style of still life and would plan this shoot again so that it could be improved and more successful.
Final image.
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