Being early the NFT space, you may find yourself unintentionally making historical milestones. One such milestone, apparently, is me being the first Black Female Still Life Photographer in the NFT Space. I suspected as much when I couldn’t find others when I started, but during a conversation on the last day of black history month, it was brought up to me again.
Being early in NFTs
I believe being the first black woman photographer to primarily take on Still Life art in NFTs, is important because as of me writing this, Still Life Photography is still not in the most popular genre in NFTs. Like history repeating itself, it is taking its time to catch up with other genres. I believe me being in this space, creating these images, and showing other young girls that look like me, who may have a passion for still life photography, that they can do it too, is important.
Confirming this of being the first Black Female Still Life Photographer has made me even more bullish on my goals. It also serves as a reminder that black creators are diverse in their creativity. I was in a space recently where Black Women in NFTs were being celebrated and I brought up the fact that, sometimes, in the NFT space, I feel like an anomaly because I do not create what most looking in from the outside would consider black art. But, what is “black art,” really? Your art is a representation of you as the artist, and our experiences will vary. So, to any young lady out there who may create art that is not considered traditionally representative of your blackness, just know that your work is just as important and you are a representation of that work, be it traditional or not.
History of Still Life
Still Life as a genre of art started as far back as the 15th century. But before that, Still Life paintings have been painted as far back as the 15th Century BCE, and found in Egyptian tombs. So who was the first still-life painter? We may never know. However, the first still-life painter recorded was Italian painter Jacopo de’Barbari, whose painting “The Golden age,” painted in 1504, is considered to be the first Still Life painting.
This brings me back to why it is important to keep records and why NFTs are also important for record-keeping. It allows us to go back and check to see what genre of art was minted first and what each artist was doing at any given time. Still Life has had its ups and down in history with its initial inception being seen as mundane. It eventually picked up and become one of the most popular genres of art. This is why I mentioned that in NFTs, history is somehow repeating itself.
My Still Life Work
I currently have two Still Life collections available as NFTs. The first collection is titled Contemporary Still Life. The latest collection is titled Legends Life Forever. I approach both collections with a different style. Contemporary Still Life draws most of its inspiration from traditional still life. Legends Live Forever draws inspiration from both pop art and traditional still life. You can view both collections on Opensea.