Memento Mori

Still life photography. Not everyone has a collection like this one.

Still life photography with orchid.

Still life photography. The beauty of the world going to sleep as it prepares for winter.

Still life photography. The Vanitas painters painted with deep symbolism in their paintings. They were motivated by a strong desire to paint images that reminded us of the beauty of the world but also how quickly it fades. Everything withers and dies eventually. The mission of these artists, fundamentally, was to help us to understand both how to live in the moment an appreciate the world while also understanding we were made for something more. Something greater. Death is only terrifying if you have no plans for where you hope to be when that day comes.

This image with the skull of conjoined twins, for me, was a representation of both eternal love but also of the dual nature of our existence which we wrestle with as physical and spiritual beings. Oh, and yeah… it just looks soooo cool.

Original photography by Tobin Pilotte

Still life photography. Dreaming of treasure to the very end.

Still life photography. Here is a celebration to the very end.