Tybee Forks and Starts (E) 1978

Jan Groover’s ‘Tybee Forks and Starts (E)’ is a still life photograph that feels like a painting. Groover’s objects aren't just things; they're actors in a drama of light and form. Look at the saw blade, its toothed edge contrasting with the smooth surface, bisected with the light, and consider how the light changes its colour from golden brown to green. Then your eye meets the knife, a sleek curve meeting the fork’s prongs, all existing in this shallow space that’s both intimate and a little uncanny. What strikes me is the way Groover orchestrates these elements. It's like she's saying, "Hey, look at what happens when these things meet, when light hits them just so." She’s playing with the idea of perception itself. This reminds me of artists like Giorgio Morandi, who also found endless fascination in the mundane, turning simple objects into profound meditations on seeing and being. Ultimately, Groover invites us to slow down, to really see, and to find beauty in the unexpected corners of our everyday lives.