Research for The Object

Research into ideas for my still-life photo

My research into traditional still-life paintings gave me inspiration to what props I could use in my own work. I liked how the painters use to include skulls in there work as I feel its a powerful prop to use because of its symbolism with death. Using a skull in my own work would make my photo stand out and give it a very dramatic feel because of how symbolic skulls are. The 16th century period of still-life paintings also inspired me because of there use of animals and how they were celebrating nature, I also found still-life paintings in the 17th century inspiring because of there use of dead animals in there work. 

My inspiration from the 16th and 17th still life paintings inspired me to research animal rights  I came up the idea because of the use of animals in the history of the still life paintings. To start of my research I decided to find definitions of themes that was related to animals to see if I could develop any more ideas:

animal rights    Campaign for more humane treatment of animals, aiming to reduce the infliction of pain and distress, Activists' efforts have particularly focused on the use of animals in scientific experiments, but have also drawn attention to the practices of the meat industry.

animal cruelty    The offence, under the Protection of Animals Acts 1911–2000, of causing any unnecessary suffering to any domestic or captive animal, including farm animals. Other statutes which serve to criminalize the ill‐treatment of animals include: the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925, the Pet Animals Act 1951, the Cock Fighting Act 1952, the Abandonment of Animals Act 1960, and the Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act 1988.

vegetarian    A person who does not eat meat. There are different degrees of vegetarianism, from strict vegans who omit all animal products from their diet to semi-vegetarians who eat some animal products. Pescovegetarians eat fish; lacto-vegetarians consume milk but not eggs; lacto-ovovegetarians consume both eggs and milk; and ovo-vegetarians eat eggs. So-called new vegetarians restrict their meat intake to the occasional fish or white meat (e.g. chicken) dish, but avoid red meat and processed foods.

There are many reasons for adopting a vegetarian diet. Some people are vegetarian for religious and cultural reasons; others avoid eating meat for ethical, environmental, or health reasons. Some people do not eat meat for the simple reason that they dislike the taste. The recent upsurge in interest in vegetarian diets has been fuelled by reports in the press about animal cruelty and the potential dangers of eating meat. Media reports associating red meat consumption with heart disease, or about mad cow disease, increase the number of converts to vegetarianism.

There is much debate about the nutritional adequacy of vegetarian diets, but it is not possible to say that they are all ‘good’ or ‘bad’ because they vary so much in nutrient composition. Nevertheless, well-planned vegetarian diets can provide adequate amounts of all the required nutrients and may be more beneficial to health than an omnivorous diet (studies in the United States indicate that vegetarians have heart attacks on average 10 years later in life than meat eaters). However, the diets of vegans have a greater risk of deficiencies and vegans have to be particularly careful to consume a variety of foods. Vegans may also need to supplement their diets with vitamin B₁₂ and possibly calcium to ensure adequate intakes. Poor nutritional health in vegetarians does occur, but is usually a result of poor dietary planning.

It has been estimated recently that there are about 5 million vegetarians in the UK with a growing number of adherents under 16 years of age. The food industry is responding to the increased demand by providing a greater variety of highly nutritious, competitively priced, convenience foods for vegetarians. This is likely to encourage a further expansion in vegetarianism in the future. 

PETA  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Next, I researched newspaper articles on animal rights to gain inspiration for my own still life. I found articles on animal protest’s where they have attacked fur shop, this has given me the idea to use fur in my still life. By using fur in my still life I feel it will help to symbolise animals.

I also looked at newspaper articles about using as animals as food. By looking into the idea of vegetarianism I came up with an idea to place an animal skull on to a place to show how animals are harmed for us to eat. I feel that this idea would represent the social issue well because the skull symbolises death and negativity of eating animals.

I also looked at articles on animal cruelty to see if I could incorporate that into my still life. I liked the idea of using an animal skull in my still-life to represent animal cruelty and how it can lead to death. By having a skull in my photograph it would give the image a very dramatic feel and would be similar to the styles of the traditional still-life paintings. 

From researching newspaper articles on animal cruelty I came up with ideas to use in my still-life photograph. I decided to focus on the subject of vegetarianism. My initial idea is to show that animals slaughtered for meat are highly developed beings, so I’ve decided to photograph an animal skull placed on a plate with cutlery next to it to show how the meat we eat was once alive and breathing.