choosing the elements
Still life is often considered one of the more accessible genres of photography (or any other form of art). All you need is a background, a surface, and a single object to create a composition. During the process, you can adjust the composition by adding or removing objects. One of the benefits of still life photography is that it can be set up and captured spontaneously, often taking no more than 10 minutes.
Perhaps that's why I started so easy my cosmic series two and half years ago. Initially, they were to be just still-lifes. I wanted to create something unreal—otherworldly—using the simplest means and objects. At that time, I had only seen such compositions made in 3D, but I aimed to create alien landscapes in reality through still lifes. It was important to do this without a studio, shooting everything at home on my table.
For these experiments, I didn't need any professional or inaccessible equipment, just a camera and a tripod. After a bit of preparation and gathering materials and objects, I found a neutral wall by the window as my shooting location. I then implemented a cosmic composition using objects I had on hand.
Here's a behind-the-scenes look at my shooting process for the artwork "Greeting a Rising Star." You can watch some of my videos in the "Video" section of this site and the final artwork in the "Artworks" section.
When I decided that my theme would be cosmic still lifes, I realized that "space ikebana" would be a more fitting name for future compositions. This term better reflects the harmonic still-life compositions, which can include both inanimate objects and natural materials. Most of the items I used were collected at home, with some additional materials I had previously purchased for use in my studio.
For inspiration and to create a specific composition, I drew from the works of Suprematists and Neoplasticists like Kandinsky, Malevich, Miró, and Mondrian. I based my compositions on abstract constructions made from geometric forms. With a set of objects, I arranged them to resemble both a still life and a landscape. A key object in this composition was a rectangular mirror with rounded edges, which should play an alien lake where the reflections of other objects would also be part of the composition.
This is how the series "For All Mankind" began.
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