About my ‘Still Alive’ project
‘Still Alive’ started becuase I thought there must be a way to do what I do, but also get out into nature and feel connected to the earth, the plants, and the seasons. I grew up in a rural part of Hampshire and while I love my studio work, I also crave the countryside.
The idea I had was to photograph plants in an aesthetic style that recalls traditional still life painting, but instead of bringing plants to the studio, I would go to them, almost setting up a kind of studio around the subject.
By doing this, the plants would not be picked, cut, or damaged during the shoot, so when I had finished, they would literally be ‘Still Alive’
Creating Simplicity in Nature
The plants which grow in the natural world can be chaotic and messy. Part of the still life aesthetic I aim for requires a certain level of simplicity. At the very least, focus on a specific subject.
To achieve this I hand paint canvas backdrops, choosing colours that will complement the plants I am searching for. I use the backgrounds to separate my chosen subject from the multitude.
This said, I particularly like the images from the series which have a little bit of mess in the foreground or background as well as the main subject, reminding you that it is a natural environment, and not a studio.
Controlling the light
Whatever you decide to shoot, photography ultimately comes down to how you can sculpt light to create the mood you want.
If you’re like me, when you imagine classical still-life , you might think of softly lit paintings of bouquets in vases painted by the Dutch masters.
They created this look by setting up their scenes next to or near windows. To emulate this effect I use screens to block the light from above and from one side, so that what remains is a beautifully gentle light coming from one side, as if from a window.
Capturing the image
I’ve developed a technique based around using a tilt-shift lens and mounting the camera body on a vertical macro rail that can move the whole system up or down.
It’s the same kind of concept as a technical view camera, and it means I can shoot these images as vertical panoramas with no parallax distortion.
Effectively this method doubles the perceived size of the camera’s sensor, creating a medium format look and giving the impression of looking at the scene through a larger window and making the photograph appear more present and lifelike.