Still Life 1924

Jaromír Funke made this "Still Life" photograph, with its sepia tones, using a camera of course, and a dark room. I imagine Funke carefully arranging these planes of mirror, glass and light in a dance of refraction. What was he thinking when he clicked the shutter? Perhaps he was interested in the formal qualities of light and shadow, or maybe he wanted to capture the essence of his subject in a new and exciting way. The composition has a Cubist sensibility, don’t you think? These overlapping geometric forms create a sense of depth and complexity. In any case, Funke’s play with light reminds us of the ways in which we perceive and interpret the world around us and the many artists over time who have been inspired by the still life as a site of experimentation.