Personal Background
Jan Groover was born on April 24, 1943 in Plainfeild, New Jersey. She studied painting at the Pratt Institute, New York City, and the Ohio State University, and she changes to photography in 1971. She purchased her first large format camera after winning a grand from the National Endowment for the Arts. Some of her works were held at the Museum of Modern Art in 1987. She moved to France in 1991 with her husband Bruce Boice, who was a painter, because of American Politics. In France, she took pictures with an even larger camera, and she died on January 1, 2012 at the age of 68.
Style
Many of Jan Groover's photographs reference historical art like diptychs and triptychs. These forms of art reference the medieval and Renaissance art. Her photography dipped into different styles of photography, but she consistently came back to Still Lifes, which were practiced a lot by painters. Another thing that Jan Grover was known for was how she shot her photographs in color. Color photography was less traditional at the time, and it was usually thought of as commercial photography and less professional. She helped color photography became more popular and thought of as art.
Philosophy
Thought there is not much insight on Jan Groover's philosophy, we do know she was not interested in politics. In 1991, she moved to France to escape the political nature of the United States. She also was not interested in the popular aspect of taking fancy photography. She instead liked to take photos arranged kitchen wear. She arranged silverwear in a sink and snapped photos from there.
Influences
Jan Groover was influenced from her practice of painting. Many of her photographs are still lifes, which is the most common style for painters. Her early photography was also representative of diptychs, where two photos are placed side by side, and triptychs, where three photos are placed side by side. She was also influenced by works of Paul Cézanne and Giorgio Morandi. Later in life, she was also influenced by the beauty of France, where she dove into landscape photography.
Shiny Spoons
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I found this image difficult to take. I found it hard to get both good lighting and not many reflections. I decided to go for no obvious reflections, which was hard. The spoons I used were really reflective, which was hard because they would reflect shelves in the background and the camera I took the image with. Overall, I am happy with the image that I took, I just wish I had better lighting options.
I had a lot of fun setting up this photo. It was interesting to adjust the silverware and see how it changed the way it looked in the camera. I had a hard time with the reflections in the silverware, but they are less noticeable and were easier to fix, because the silverware was further away. Overall, I really like how the photo turned out, but I wish I could adjust the lighting, which is way different that the original photo.
Bowl and Utensils
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I think this one was the hardest for me. I tried to have the main points in the photo, which I saw as the fork, knife, spoon, and bowl. I did not have the right props, which I think could have really helped this photo look more like the original. It was also really hard to balance/place the utensils in the right place. I was focusing on the placement, and I failed to focus of the lighting. I wish the lighting was better in this photo, but I am glad with the placement of the utensils.
Artist Statement
These photos challenged me. I had a difficult time with this type of photography, and I also had difficult time recreating images because I like to have freedom to do what I want. I liked this challenge because I learned about lighting and placement with this assignment. I also liked to adjust placement and see how different it can make the photo look. Overall, I though this assignment was really helpful, but I like having creative freedom.
Sources
1) Britannica - www.britannica.com/biography/Jan-Groover
2) Museum of Modern Art - www.moma.org/artists/2358
3) Philosophy of Science Portal - philosophyofscienceportal.blogspot.com/2012/01/deceased-jan-groover.html
2) Museum of Modern Art - www.moma.org/artists/2358
3) Philosophy of Science Portal - philosophyofscienceportal.blogspot.com/2012/01/deceased-jan-groover.html
Images
1) Still life with spoons #482, 1981 - www.artnet.com/artists/jan-groover/still-life-with-spoons-482-1981-NskV0b_7EO3wya7fm0kjQ2
2) Untitled (Still-life with silverware) - www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Untitled--Still-life-with-silverware-/32DCA157883295D8
3) Untitled - appliedtechniques.wordpress.com/jan-groover/
2) Untitled (Still-life with silverware) - www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Untitled--Still-life-with-silverware-/32DCA157883295D8
3) Untitled - appliedtechniques.wordpress.com/jan-groover/