Personal Background
Jan Groover was born on April 24, 1943 in Plainfield, New Jersey. She is a American born Christian. She studied painting at Pratt Institute, New York as well as the Ohio State University. She taught for over a decade at the State University of New York. She taught painting and photography to the students there. In 1987 a retrospective of her work was held at the Museum of Modern Arts in New York. On January 1, 2012 Groover died of illness at the age of 68.
Style
Jan Groover did still life photography. Her pictures contain simple everyday objects. She did a lot of experiments with space and illusion in a large format. She took many pictures with kitchen utensils arranged in a sink. Groover is best remembered for her conceptual work. Her work is comparable to 14th and 15th century still life masters. Back in those centuries there was not many things to be painted. So, she goes with that concept and takes photos of everyday objects.
Philosophy
Jan Groover had a couple ideas of what her photographs were about. The main thing about her pictures was that she wanted to transform the light in the photos. She wanted the light to become an object itself in the reflective surfaces. Her work was also resonated as subtle works of feminism. But aside from politics, she wanted her photos to show beautiful investigations of fiction in the world.
Influences
Jan Groover's photography is influenced heavily by fourteenth and fifteenth century still life masters. Their work is primarily made of luxuries in their time, which are now everyday items. That is why her pictures include lots of cutlery items. A few people that she bases her work off of are Paul Cezanne and Giorgio Morandi. These people were the premiere still life artists of their time. The first camera was made in 1816, so they made paintings of still life images. Groover recreated these paintings with her own style, and thus came her photographs.
Sources
Untitled (Silverware on a Table)
https://www.christies.com/lotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=3870411 Untitled (Silverware on a Table)
Untitled (A spoon, fork, and knife)
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/51133?artist_id=2358&locale=en&page=1&sov_referrer=artist
Untitled (Cutlery)
https://samtutt.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/jan-groover-still-life-photography/
https://www.christies.com/lotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=3870411 Untitled (Silverware on a Table)
Untitled (A spoon, fork, and knife)
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/51133?artist_id=2358&locale=en&page=1&sov_referrer=artist
Untitled (Cutlery)
https://samtutt.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/jan-groover-still-life-photography/
Compare and Contrast
I think that these two pictures are some what similar. Her photo I feel is a little more zoomed in than my photo. One thing that is similar is that both images have the same sort of background. Also the utensils in the images are the same. Finally, both photos are shot at the same angle, but her photo is closer in. One thing that is different is that I think the alignment of the utensils are different. Also one more thing that is different is that her picture has a strong black and white theme. My image on the other hand is more light on that. Other than that our images are pretty similar if do say so myself.
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This was probably the toughest photo I have taken all year. The hardest part of it was the angle. If you were to compare my photo to her photo you would see one key difference, the position of the picture. That is the only main difference in the images. Another difference is that her background is more of a rusty metal type color, while my image is a straight metal color. One thing that is similar is that the utensils are the same. Also both images have the same glare or color. I think her image is at an angle that only professionals can do .
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I think that these two mages are very similar. One thing that is similar the spoons, knifes, and forks are angled in the same way. Another thing that is similar is that they both have the same black and white theme. I would say that my picture might be a little less organized then hers. This in terms of the shadows that are given off from the utensils. I have shadows everywhere, while she has only two of them. I think that this is one of the best images I ha e taken all year. In my opinion I think that these two images are very similar to each other.
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Personal Artist Statement
I feel like these were the hardest pictures I have taken all year. The hardest part was trying to accurately photograph what Jan Groover photographed. Her pictures are primarily all still lives, and they are images of everyday house items. You don't see many photographer who take pictures like her, that is what makes her art so unique. When taking my photos I had to remember everything from when we did our still life unit. The thing about her images is that none of the objects in the images are organized. I am generally an organized person, so it was tough taking a photo with that style. One thing that I had to remember was making sure my images have balance. Balance in a image means that every part of the photo has equal visual weight. Due to the objects being unorganized in the photo, this was a challenge. None the less I thoroughly enjoyed trying to take images like Jan Groover. She was one of the best still life photographers, and her work can probably never be matched.
Resources
- http://janetbordeninc.com/artist/jan-groover/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/arts/design/jan-groover-postmodern-photographer-dies-at-68.html
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jan-Groover