Artist’s desktop

The September assignment in my still-life photo project for this year was “Artist’s Desktop”.

Because this year’s project is based on props I already have at home, my thoughts went straight to bullet journaling – the small creative ritual that accompanies my days. It’s not grand art, more a quiet practice, but it brings those tiny sparks that brighten my days. However modest they may seem, they never lose their value; sometimes they even grow into something bigger.

Once the idea settled, the props practically chose themselves: colourful brushes, paper pads, stamps… Familiar items, yet surprisingly tricky when observed through a lens and brought into focus.

Dust settles everywhere, and those tiny particles clinging to light surfaces can ruin the impression and mood of the image instantly if you overlook them. Old paint stains inside brush caps don’t help either. And then there are the reflective surfaces, catching odd, uneven light spots that refuse to disappear or be retouched cleanly.

These imperfections need attention before shooting, not after. Contemporary AI-driven software is powerful, but not everything can be fixed later. Still-life photography requires close attention and a great amount of patience – both easy to underestimate. I’ve learned the hard way how frustrating it is to look at a finished set of photos and realize the issues should have been cleaned, adjusted, or simply noticed earlier.

And yet that’s the charm of it: the slow process, the careful seeing, the way familiar objects reveal both their flaws and their beauty when you really look at them.

The assignment for October featured “Objects in Motion”, which I’ll be sharing next time…