Justine Reyes - Vanitas

Still Life With Book & Figs

Still Life With Banana, Purse & Change

Still Life With Pomegranate & Birds

Still Life With Fish & Orange Slices

Still Life With Pumpkin

I am in awe of these still lifes, by photographer Justine Reyes, from her Vanitas series. Inspired by the symbolic Dutch still lifes by the same name, these photographs have a painterly quality that is simply stunning. As she explains about this series:

Taking inspiration from Dutch Vanitas paintings, these photographs incorporate personal artifact within the traditional construct of still life. Pairing objects that belonged to my grandmother with my own possessions speaks to memory and the legacy that one leaves behind. Both the decomposition of the natural (rotting fruit and wilting flowers) and the break down of the man-made objects, reference the physical body and mortality. These objects bear witness to a spiritual trace or imprint that is left behind or residual.

Everything about these, from the choice of lighting to the paired objects, lends an amazing, almost tangible quality to these works that I absolutely love.

(Via Teenangster)