Still Life #1

Irving Penn
Image One - The Fallen Pitcher  (1980)

What I find interesting about this image is that the fallen pitcher is not broken like the bowl of cherries. I think that is supposed to be milk under all of this. Could it be a play on the saying "Don't cry over spilt milk" ?

Image Two - Italian Still Life, New York,  Sept. 1981

I chose this one because it reminded me of a caprese salad that is missing the basil. I like the stacking, and that the colors go from one end of the spectrum to the other, though white to red is a bit of a leap. 

Image Three - Still Life with Mushrooms (1966)

I will start by saying mushrooms are awesome. This image shows them at all the usual angles, top, bottom, and sides. They are just there. I like how you can see the imperfections, the grains and the splotches. 

Edward Weston

Image One - Pepper

 I honestly cannot believe this was shot in the 1930's. To me it doesn't seem to fit the time period, bringing to light my ignorance in the progression of photography. It is such a bizarre looking pepper, it almost looks like a man-made sculpture. That may be the reason I like it, it does not look like the everyday pepper.

Image Two-  Leaf

The same goes for this leaf of lettuce. At first glance, I did not see a leaf of lettuce, I saw this floating fabric on a strange body or wire. I think this image shows the beautiful flow of nature. It looks so smooth at the top where the light is, but in the darker areas the texture of the leaf comes out. The contrast is stunning and beautiful. 

Image Three - Toadstool

It took me a minute to figure out where the camera was pointing in this image. At first I thought the stem was just empty, not an actual stem. I really like this perspective of looking up at the underside of the toadstool. It makes it look so much more grand than it would actually be looking down at it.