Jan Groover (1943-2012)
Jan Groover is an American photographer most famous for her experimental still life pictures. Groover studied painting at the Pratt Institute, New York City and the Ohio State University before she turned to photography in 1971. In 1991 she and her husband moved to the Dordogne in southwest France because, friends were told, they wanted to smoke in bars and restaurants.
Even though Groover ultimately chose photography over painting, but many of the concepts she discovered during her education carried over into her art. Her work focuses on the average. Rather than photographing decadent feasts, she shot basic cutleries scattered in a sink. She was labeled as a “postmodern” photographer.
Jan Groover’s work has hints of feminism and a wonder for the ordinary. It is a beautiful investigation into the conventions of photography. She was a formalist. There is a great, perfectionist attention to detail throughout her work.
I appreciate photography that highlights the ordinary objects, places, and people we don’t usually think much of. I find street photography to be one of the purest forms of art. Jan Groover’s photos embody the themes and realism found in street photography.
I attempted to imitate the color, movement, and use of the ordinary ound in Groover’s work in my photographs. However, I do not possess the formal perfectionism that made Groover’s work so beautiful. I believe that this difference in philosophy explains any differances between our work.
Sources:
New York Times
Britannica
Wall Street Journal
Artist Statement:
In these photos, I attempted to replicate Groover’s process. I made patterns with regular items I found around my kitchen. I believe I succeeded in channeling the themes in Groover’s work. However, I lack her formal, perfectionist work process. This caused my imitation to look a bit more random, which, while contributing to the theme of ordinary items, detracts from the overall beauty of the piece.