When I purchased The Mary Gilliatt Book of Color last month, I knew I’d be getting a slew of amazing interior design photos…but I didn’t count on the monochromatic still life photography! With the current still life revival still going full force, it’s fun to see what actual still life photos from the 1980s looked like. What types of items were photographed? Everything from flowers and produce to minerals and butterflies. And let’s not forget classic ’80s surreal items such as chess pieces and mirrored shards reflecting the clouds!
The still life photos in today’s post are actually portions of larger images that originally extended onto two pages. White lines in the middle of photos kind of bug me, so I opted to scan the page/side of the photo with the largest amount of items on display. To see the full still life pics in all of their ’80s glory, you’ll just need to buy Mary Gilliatt’s fabulous book, which is super affordable on Amazon.
My personal favorite touches from today’s photos: the minerals, the plant life, and the slabs of stone. And of course, anything overtly ’80s, like the cloud-filled mirror shard in the blue still life (at least, I think that’s what it is). And how fun that a butterfly appears in each photo–ha!
In today’s world of hyper-saturated still life photography, it’s interesting to see these dreamy ’80s shots. Which is your favorite?…
How did they get that “dreamy” look? It’s almost foggy. Is there a current day Photoshop filter for that? 🙂
There’s something about 80s photography that is like that and I can’t pinpoint a good description of it to look up online how to recreate it.
Hi Nathan!
To get that dreamy look in the ’80s, they likely did something to the lens of the camera (putting Vaseline or a foggy plastic over the lens perhaps?)… As for Photoshop filters, I’ve never attempted that, but you could probably combine a few different effects to get the result. I’m actually a fan of the “Glow” effect in Picasa. Thanks for your comment!