Harm Jan Schuurman Harm Jan Schuurman
EN/NL

Fine Art / Still Life

A still life is not an object. It is a posture.

In my fine art still lifes, I explore what remains when movement disappears. Flowers, vessels, paper, glass, fabric โ€” not as subjects in themselves, but as carriers of time, fragility and attention. The work lives in the tension between what still holds and what is already letting go.

I build each image through restraint: careful light, deliberate composition, and space for silence. Nothing needs to happen โ€” meaning arises precisely from that stillness. These photographs are not documentation, but slowed encounters with reality.

Black & white and colour

While black and white is an important foundation in my work, fine art is not limited to a single visual language. Some images ask for reduction; others ask for presence.

I work in black and white when form, light and silence are sufficient to hold the image. I use colour when the photograph needs a trace of life, vulnerability, or impermanence that cannot be abstracted without losing honesty. Colour remains muted and earthy โ€” never decorative, always purposeful.

Series

  • Flowers โ€” fragility, weight, and the moment a stem begins to bend. View the series
  • Objects โ€” materiality, edges, surfaces, and the quiet tension between form and absence. View the series
  • Studies in light โ€” experiments in reduction: how light alone can shape presence. View the series

Interested in prints, exhibitions, or collaboration? Get in touch.

For the broader context of my approach, see Fine Art Portrait Photography.