Blackberries 2008

Sharon Core made this photograph, "Blackberries", with who-knows-what kind of camera, at some point in her life. The berries are arranged in a very studied way, like a Dutch still life painting, only it's a photograph. When you look closely, you see that the details are so sharp it's like each berry is screaming for attention. The colors are so rich and dark it's like a velvet painting come to life. It feels hyperreal, but at the same time, oddly fake. The lighting, for instance, is theatrical. I'm reminded of other contemporary photographers like Roe Ethridge, who takes pictures of everyday objects, but always with this weird, detached coolness. It's like they're saying, "Yeah, it's just a picture of some berries, so what?" But, of course, it's never "just" anything in art, is it? It's always a conversation, a game of seeing and being seen. In the end, Sharon Core's Blackberries makes you wonder if the search for 'real' is just a game we play with ourselves.