Jan Groover Artist Analysis:
Jan Groover was an American photographer born in 1943, who perfected the art of sampling and splicing objects into larger artworks. She studied fine art at the Pratt Institute and Ohio State University, owning her first camera after a 1987 grant from The National Endowment for the Arts. Groover is famous for her modern twist on still life, replacing pencil and paint for a camera. Her work went far beyond just taking pictures of still life sets, she would photograph backdrops, and later add in items. The items added into the backdrops were always simple and traditionally used in still life. They consisted of silver and metal cutlery. She went above and beyond and the hard work paid off as she made eerily realistic images. In this simple act of subverting expectations, she helped show that photography in itself is a branch off of art, able to be controlled and changed at the photographers will.
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The artwork I will be analysing is the one shown on the right. This artwork is a unique still life taken by camera as opposed to traditional medium for still life's, such as paint or pencil. This image was the most intriguing to me with its intricate colours and patterns. This still life has colour and life to it. It presents mundane everyday items and turns them into a single work of art. The items chosen don't relate and have no correlation to each other yet they somehow compliment each other. The leaf in the right corner of the image has a waxy look to it, but its dull, dark green colour helps bring the viewers attention to the colourful leaf on its left. This concept shows that opposites attract and amplify the effect of this sudden explosion of colour compared to the rest of the image. This format of having stainless steel cutlery right next to exotic looking leafs is a recurring theme in Groovers other work. I feel that this image has 2 parts to it. It has the part with cutlery and other steel tools, mixing and blending with a white fabric used as part of the backdrop. The other half is darker and has leafs, with a washed pink wallpaper for its part of the backdrop. Ironically the darker part of this image is the one that seems to have joyful connotations. The red leafs are like an oasis amongst the dark, blander leafs. They remind me of a "silver lining" among the dark clouds. The other half of the image seems to have the more depressing emotions. Being normal and pure, which I often find to be less creative (although not in all cases).
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Contact Sheet:
Upon looking at Jan Groovers work, I immediately went ahead and shot in the studio. I took pictures many ordinary items such as knives, forks, spoons and glass plates. These items were key to creating the most successful Groover inspired edit. Groover uses a range of mundane objects to create unique still life's, so I responded by taking pictures of individual objects so I could easily sample them into my own work. If the items are on their own, they are easier to crop into larger pieces. I took many base images to be the backdrop, whilst shooting individual objects for the foreground, to show a range of ideas and concepts, whilst giving me the chance to use spare images I didn't originally want to use. I wanted to make an edit that looked similar to a specific image of hers, whilst making it my own work. I wanted some realism so I shot the cutlery facing the same direction so that the lighting was the same throughout every shot. I wanted to create a flawless, realistic image and the best way to achieve this was by giving myself the perfect template in the original shoot.