High End Product Photography is Fine Art In A Commercial Market
While it’s easy to simply take an image at face value, there’s often more than meets the eye. Aside from the technical aspects of creating heroic product imagery, you might be surprised at the amount of thought and level of detail that goes into producing a single product hero shot.
From my perspective as a working commercial photographer and digital artist specializing in product photography, I view high end commercial product photography as fine art in a commercial market. Though art is highly subjective through the eye of the beholder, in my mind, if it’s something I’d hang on my wall or put in my home, I’d consider it to be a form of fine art.
The Exoskeleton of Chronometry
I call this watch image “The Exoskeleton of Chronometry.” Chronometry means “the science of accurate time measurement.” The word “exoskeleton” refers to a rigid external covering providing both support and protection. A watch is literally the face of what we interpret as time.
Symbolism in Product Photography
Much like literary works of art, if you read between the lines so-to-speak, other forms of art such as paintings, sculpture and even commercial product photography can also have symbolic meaning. Looking deeper into The Exoskeleton of Chronometry, for example, these two opposing surfaces might appear to have nothing in common, yet, they both symbolize the concept of "time." Similar to the face of the watch, wood also tells the story of time in a scientific yet abstract way. The blackened driftwood and the watch are made from completely different materials; yet they both have the ability to tell time. This seemingly hidden symbolism also creates an interesting visual dichotomy between these two objects.
