Styling with the Same Props
to Create Different Moods
LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY
One of the things I find most fascinating about photography is how styling with the same props to create different moods. And so much atmosphere can be created within a single space.
For this series, I worked with exactly the same collection of props: artichokes, asparagus, savoy cabbage, fennel, a basket, my favourite Kinfolk Table book, tea towels and a wooden chopping board.
The photographs were taken during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using just one room in our home — our bedroom — with its large window and a chest of drawers moved into different positions within the space.
For the first arrangement,
I placed everything
against a white wall,
with the window behind me.
For the second, I styled the very same objects in front of the dark green wall. the light from that same window fall in from the left
And these are the results of those two settings. They feel like two completely different stories.
One feels light, fresh and airy.
The other feels calm, layered and perhaps a little reminiscent of an old Dutch still life painting.
Creating atmosphere in photography is about styling, backgrounds and placing light (I always use daylight) in different ways.
Which atmosphere do you feel most drawn to — the lighter setting or the darker one?
