Still life photography is a tricky genre. If you don’t do it right, you can end up with a sad-looking bunch of inanimate objects and boring images. Do it well, and you turn your still life images into art pieces! But how can you master still life photography?
You need to find inspiration and outstanding examples you can follow. Read our list of ten contemporary still life photographers you must see to find the right path to better still life images.
12 Contemporary Still Life Photographers to Follow
Here are 10 still life photographers to get some inspiration from. Each person has their own unique style. Visit their websites or follow their social media for still life photography ideas and compositions to try yourself.
Jonathan Knowles
Jonathan is an outstanding advertising photographer specializing in still life photography. He has a unique style and lighting technique. His work won him several awards, and Jonathan worked with clients like Coca-Cola, Smirnoff, Nescafé, and Guinness.
He likes to focus on drinks and liquids because they have inspired him since childhood.
“When I was eight years old, I was awestruck by Harold Edgerton’s iconic milk splash image, which was on the wall of my school science laboratory… I carried this inspiration with me. When I bought my first camera, two of the frames on my first roll of film were of splashing milk.”
Jonathan Knowles: Website | Instagram
Jenny Van Sommers
Jenny is an award-winning still life photographer from Sydney. Today, she is working and living in London. Her images are quirky, fun, and innovative. And she has quite a reputable clientele like Apple, Nike, Audie, and Hermes.
She also took up painting a few years ago and started to create paintings showcasing bananas during the pandemic lockdown in 2020.
Jenny Van Sommers: Website | Instagram
Mat Collishaw
Mat is a British contemporary artist who also creates still life photography. He attended Goldsmiths’ College and has had solo and group exhibitions over the past three decades.
Collishaw’s work is showcased in many famous art institutions. Places include the Center Georges Pompidou, Paris Museum of Contemporary Art, and Tate, London.
His work is often confronting, and you need to take a second look to understand what is happening in his images.
Mat Collishaw: Website | Instagram
Henry Hargreaves
Henry is a Brooklyn-based contemporary photographer. He’s famous for his still life and food photography. He was born in New Zealand and then moved to Manhattan. He was a bartender and professional model, modeling for Prada, Hermes, and Lacoste.
He learned about photography techniques working with other photographers and experimented a lot. His still life photography focuses on food and often has a funny, edgy message.
Henry’s photography was featured at the Venice Biennale, the MAXXI in Rome, and The Lunch Box Gallery in Miami, Florida.
Henry Hargreaves: Website | Instagram
Evelyn Bencicova
Evelyn is a visual creative from Bratislava, Slovakia. She specializes in photography and art direction. Evelyn studied at the University for Applied Arts, Vienna.
She uses a visual language that is full of symbolic elements. This way, the viewer looks at her still life photography for a long time, trying to understand its various depths. Evelyn’s images are always more than meets the eye.
Evelyn worked with clients like Gucci, Cartier, and Nehera. She won several awards. And her work appeared in Vogue Portugal, Vogue Spain, and Elle magazines.
Evelyn Bencicova: Website | Instagram
Paulette Tavormina
Spreading her time between New York and Connecticut, Tavormina’s work is a celebration of the flora and fauna found in the rural New England.
Her still life photographs are traditional, with a strong influence from the classic still life painters of the 17th Century. And yet her work is still subversive. The table-top still life images are bold, juxtaposing a wide assortment of expected and unexpected items.
Her keen eye for detail has honed during her time as a prop and food stylist in Hollywood. Now she’s a world recognized photographer with exhibitions all over the world.
Paulette Tavormina: Website | Instagram
Tatyana Skorokhod
Tatyana is a hobby photographer from Kyiv, Ukraine. Her beautiful still-life photographs look like Renaissance still life paintings. She has a great eye for choosing subjects and playing with the light.
She photographs buckets of flowers, food items, and everyday objects. Besides still life photography, you can also find landscape and travel images in her portfolio.
Tatyana Skorokhod: Website
Shihya Kowatari
Shihya is a still-life photographer from Japan. Her still-life images look dreamy and fragile because she mostly captures natural objects.
She loves flowers and creatures and manages to find beauty in simple objects. In her still life photography, she often uses bokeh and captures silhouettes.
Shihya Kowatari: Website | Instagram
Robert Sulkin
Robert Sulkin is an outstanding photographer from the US. He has a BA in History and an MA and MFA in Art. He taught photography for 39 years at Hollins University.
He has had several solo and group exhibitions during his career. Sulkin also received many awards. He won Best in Show in Photospiva, Joplin, MO (2008), and the Academy of Fine Arts National Juried Photography Exhibition, Lynchburg, VA (2013).
Sulkin claimed this about his own art. “… (it) deals with the futility of the individual attempting to cope in a technology-driven world spinning out of control.”
Robert Sulkin: Website | Instagram
Krista van der Niet
Krista is one of the best still life photographers from the Netherlands. She studied in Amsterdam and participated in many group exhibitions.
Her clients include prestigious Dutch names. They include Dutch Design Week, Erasmus Universiteti, and Volkskrant Magazine.
Krista’s still life photography often includes fruits and vegetables with pieces of clothing. Her images tend to have sarcastic references to pop culture and consumerism.
Krista Van Der Niet: Website | Instagram
Olivia Parker
Olivia is a professional photographer from the US, specializing in still life photography. She was focusing on silver prints photographs until a ski accident in 1995. Her injured leg didn’t allow her to work in a dark room or a studio. So she turned to digital photography.
“Digital allows me total freedom to experiment without worrying about film usage or precise camera setup… (but film was) a much better teacher for me… It made me slow down, consider image edges and think about the dynamics of what falls between the edges.”
Olivia has had more than 100 solo exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world. Her husband has Alzheimer’s disease, which inspired one of her series.
Olivia Parker: Website
Jeroen Luijt
Luijt wasn’t always a photographer. In fact, he worked in IT for many years. That was until his passion for fine art photography caused him to quit the day job. He quickly enrolled in the Photo Academy in Amsterdam and never looked back.
His work is a collection of classic tabletop still life arrangements and more abstract compositions. Either way, he always demonstrates a love of detail and shape.
Luijt is an award-winning photographer, and you can see his work displayed in many galleries across the Netherlands.
Jeroen Luijt: Website
Conclusion: Contemporary Still Life Photographers
Still life photography is a niche that requires an excellent eye for lighting and composition. Looking at experienced photographers’ art is an excellent way to learn more about still life.
Find inspiration from other still life photographers and share your work to inspire your fellow artists. And if you want to become an expert in creative still life photography? Why not check out our eBook, The Magical Photography Spellbook, next?