Still lifes in painting and photography often make use of similar qualities and techniques, such as lighting and composition.

Baroque painter Frans Snijders (1579-1657) and food photographer Tony Le Duc (1961-present) have much in common. Both were among the first in their time to look at culinary still lifes with an unconventional, artistic eye.

 There are academic parallels as well. Both their colour palettes, for example, are located in the warm light spectrum. The use of diagonals lends a dynamism to their picture frames. In these paintings and photographs, the light always incides from the left side, as if coming from a single window in the room. This simple source of light creates dark but detailed shadows around the principal subject, which by contrast is bathed in light and immediately attracts the viewer’s attention.

There is one slight difference: while Snijders often presents the ingredients next to and behind each other,    Le Duc creates layers by positioning them on top of each other. But both artists do share the same goal: to show abundance. In other words, their style is baroque.

Exhibitions runs until January 13th, 2019 at Snijders&rockoxhuis, Antwerp.

More info: www.snijdersrockoxhuis.be