"Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless" John Ruskin
These still life images are all lit by a single hand-held battery torch, in a process called Light Painting. Using timed exposures of over 40 seconds, a medium format camera is placed on a tripod and the shutter opened while the light is literally "painted" around the subject in a unique choreography of movement suited to the subject's contours, reflective properties, and transparency/opacity.
Applying this multi-directional, raking light produces unusual shadow patterns and colour effects as some parts of the scene are lit (often from several sides), while others are left unlit.
Often isolated against an unlit background, I challenge the viewer to focus on the subject itself and the interplay of light upon its features and characteristics.
Plastic portion trays, cardboard packaging, unused or unwanted household items are all recycled materials which I recycle once again through my photography in an attempt to honour their uniqueness.
I'm fascinated by the detritus and spillage of our materialistic lives and these still life images offer the chance to re-examine familiar domestic waste, discarded packaging or modern plastics, and overlooked or unseen substances which I feel are more relevant to our modern consumerist lifestyles and somehow more representative of our contemporary lives than what more commonly passes for more traditional still life subject matter.
For further portfolio and article please visit: http://photoarts.com/ftp/jeremywebb/gallery.htm