‘Nature Morte’, French for ‘dead nature’, and used in the artist world to mean ‘still life’, is one of the most often painted subjects.  This usually consists of flowers, pots, bowls of fruit and other things that don’t exactly make the blood boil.  However, it is in painting or drawing these things that really make a person understand such principles as perspective, light, shading, color, and composition.

Still lifes can also become more than a table top of house hold items.  Artists such as Cezanne, Morandi and Vermeer have revolutionized art in their own way through their use of still-lifes.  Their use of color, composition and light creates depth, moods and atmosphere that makes the painting more than bottles, oranges, or a bowl in a window.  The trick is to emphasize what is important.

Denis Roussel, a Parisian native and an artist here at Teal Art Gallery, titles his photography collection ‘Nature Morte’.  He is referencing both the static nature of the subject, but also talking about the subject: dead plants.  All of his photos of dead plants tell a story of life and death, and the perception of beauty.  In an O’Keeffe-ish way, he is insisting that people notice the things that are usually ignored.

In the title collection, Roussel photographs a single dead plant with color film.  Then, after developing the negative, he manipulates the film until the colors change and it warps in to something that looks fluid and alive.  The effect is that it makes the audience focus on the usually ignored plant and brings it back to the forefront.

In Roussel’s most recent collection, ‘Feuilles Sentimentales’, literally sentimental leaves, dead plants are once more brought to the forefront.  What differs in this collection is the use of black and white film, and also the type of plant is consistent through the photos.  The leaves are centered in the photo to really draw all of the attention to the leaf.  Also the black and white film is manipulated, but this time it is more difficult.  Black and white film is much more durable, and the crackle effect is very different from the fluid color negatives used in ‘Nature Morte’.  The overall result makes the viewer attach emotion to the almost abstract shapes of the dried leaves.  This effect is furthered by the use of only black and white which adds a feeling of nostalgia to the pieces.