A few years ago, I created one of my first YouTube videos exploring the eerie yet beautiful world of Vanitas still life photography. With Halloween round the corner, I decided to dive into a centuries-old artistic tradition that marries symbolism, morality, and aesthetics once more.
Vanitas might be considered a sub-genre of still life art that originated in 17th century Dutch paintings. Artists of the time would craft elaborate still life arrangement filled with symbolic objects: skulls, rotting fruit, hourglasses, snuffed-out candles, books, shells, and musical instruments. Each item carried a meaning that were meant as reminders of mortality, and the futility of human pleasures. The overarching theme was memento mori (remember you will die). Far from being simply morbid, Vanitas art was meant as a moral nudge, encouraging viewers to live virtuously and reflect on the transience of earthly life.
In my original video, I attempted my own vanitas photographs that were a nod to the Dutch masters, particularly Herman Steenwijck. I used a skull, some books, an hourglass, and candles to build a composition. My composition and lighting echoed the atmospheric mood of old paintings. At the time, I felt as if I had created something that continued the lineage of an artistic tradition stretching back four centuries.
Truthfully though, I was borrowing artistic credibility. I took a well-established practice and put my spin on it and because that was rooted in painting and I could call it ‘art’. What I have come more to terms with, is the fact photography is art and photographs don’t need to be ‘painterly’ to be artistic.
The challenge I’ve set myself is this: can I create a vanitas still life that is true to the spirit of the tradition, whilst also uniquely my own. Whereas before I was focused on recreating the look of 17th century paintings; I now aim to make something that is more ‘pure’ photography, whilst still maintaining the essence and message of a classic vanitas.
The themes of Vanitas are just as relevant now as they were four centuries ago. Concerns around mortality and the meaning we attach to our possessions and pleasures are timeless. The process of creating a new vanitas image seven years on is, in itself, a reminder that time has passed; I have changed, and in art as in life, nothing stands still. Stay tuned for the new image and video recap, where I’ll share not just the final photograph, but also the journey of making it.
To be continued…
