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Influenced by years spent in Italy and in admiration of the great historical paintings by the late Caravaggio, I have recently been working on a series of photographs of contemporary domestic scenes imbued with a rich, seventeenth century painterly aesthetic. The use of a restricted colour palette and deep dramatic light and shadow link the photographs across time with the older tradition of easel painting, both portrait and still life. The subject matter has been selected to echo that of late seventeenth-century Northern Europe; still life pieces show the remains of the breakfast table or a vase of flowers, and in the portraits members of the household go about their daily business, or remain engrossed in private meditation. Modern day settings, props and the smooth surface texture of the pieces reveal they are present day photographs, while the presence of features such as the view along a corridor into a back room or the play of light onto the face of a writer remind us of paintings by Gerard Ter Borch, Vermeer or Chardin. The use of natural light and an intensely dark background allow a quiet, jewel-like richness to emerge from small details, inviting pause and reflection on the part of the viewer and drawing them into a private, privileged experience. The timeless stillness of the subject matter has a claming effect on the viewer and in contrast to earlier competition and rivalry between the disciplines of photography and painting we experience a harmonious marriage between the style and atmosphere created by these past painters and the technique of present day photography. The series of images are meant to depict as the title states – ‘A Visit From the Past’; as if the spirit of a painter of that period, who, curious about the progress of the ‘camera obscura’, has come to visit me during my work. The painter’s spirit silently follows me from room to room working closely with me so as to aid the unification of these two forms of media and create a series of work in the style that he would have applied in the paintings of his lifetime. |
Copyright © 2003 by Sue Hibberd. All rights reserved.