AC Stills Portfolio 2025: Still Life

The art of still-life photography combines the skills of observation, composition, lighting and execution, but an individual’s taste and aesthetic judgment are also crucial to transforming a compelling arrangement of objects into a striking or memorable image. As photographer Matt Hardy mused, “Beauty can be seen in all things. Seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph.” Or, as his fellow photographer Jim Richardson has suggested, “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.”

Of course, even mundane subjects may intrigue the viewer when they are noticed, arranged and recorded by an artist, whose sensibilities can imbue inanimate objects with fresh subtext or meaning. In the first photo below, ASC member Patrick Cady creates an evocative homage to noir, using lighting and composition to lend wry ambience to a stack of pulp novels; in the ninth, Society member Mihai Mălaimare Jr. finds a pleasing symmetry in a banana peel on a decorative plate.

The genre of still-life photography emerged as photography itself was invented during the early 1800s, when those behind the lens could not yet capture moving subjects readily. One of the earliest photographs that still survives, taken by pioneer Nicéphore Niépce, showed a table set with a cloth, a bottle, a bowl and some silverware. A few decades later, in the late 1800s, photographers began moving beyond straightforward technical demonstrations, evolving still-life photography into a diverse and vibrant art form of beautiful, atmospheric images that could capture the eye and inspire deeper examination.

Since those early days, still-life has continued to evolve and thrive as an art form. Key photographers in the genre include Sharon Core, whose work explores themes of memory, authenticity and the interplay between photographic truth and illusion; Edward Weston, whose still-life work focuses on form, texture and the beauty of everyday objects; and such notable artists as Natália Evelyn Benčičová, Mat Collishaw, Marcel Christ, Mitch Feinberg, Jonathan Knowles, Henry Hargreaves, Michael G. Jackson, Olivia Parker, Yukiko Masuda, Muhammad Hardi Saputra, Tatyana Skorokhod, Margriet Smulders and Krista van der Niet, among many others whose work is worthy of any aspirant’s study and contemplation.

— Stephen Pizzello

Patrick Cady, ASC

Pulp Novels • 2025

iPhone 12 Pro

James Neihouse, ASC

Window on the Bosporus • 2018

Canon EOS 5 + EF70mm f/2.8

Shana Hagan, ASC

Iris • Highland Park • 2020

iPhone XS

Colin Hoult, ASC, CSC

Cold Feet • 2008

Canon EOS 10D + EF 12-24m

Colin Hoult, ASC, CSC

Rainfall • 2024

Fujifilm X-T3 + XF 16mm f/1.4

M. David Mullen, ASC

Broken Tourist • 2024

Nikon Z6 + Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8

Frederick Elmes, ASC

Kavala, Greece • 2018

Leica X + Vario 18mm

Alar Kivilo, ASC, CSC, ESC

Awake • 2016

iPhone

Mihai Mălaimare Jr., ASC

Shanghai • 2024

Leica M6 + Summicron-M 50mm

Caleb Deschanel, ASC

Neon Blur • São Paulo, Brazil • 2009

Polaroid SX-70

Karl-Walter Lindenlaub, ASC, BVK

Suisse Air ZU-LA • 2025

iPhone 16 Pro

Dana Gonzales, ASC

Bulgaria Texture Sketch #1 • 2021

Leica TL2 + Elmarit-M 90mm f/2.8

Roberto Schaefer, ASC, AIC

Untitled • 2022

iPhone 8

Nancy Schreiber, ASC

Double Dazzle • 2023

iPhone 14 Pro

This year's AC Stills Portfolio originally appeared in our May 2025 issue. Learn more here about how to subscribe to the industry's leading journal of motion-picture production techniques.