Still Life Photography by Tabea Mathern

There is a quiet absurdism in Tabea Mathern’s photography. Paying tribute to the classic forms and tropes of the still life, Mathern uses marble slates and simple backdrops that are reminiscent of Renaissance oil paintings or contemporary product photography. However, the Berlin-based artist creates elaborate visual ruses through clever uses of material–a straw, for example, can easily moonlight as a plant’s stem. In another photo, a cherry can just as easily pass for a pincushion. Mathern says that she gathers moments, colors, thoughts, and things to put them into a new context within her still lifes, and that she sees her work at the border of photography and set design. You should also take a look at her project Stilllifestories for which she created a Still Life every week for a whole year.

Find the work of many other inspiring contemporary still life photographers in our new book The Still Life.