Natura Morta

February 22, 2014

Here’s what I do with my free time: wander the village with a bag full of ย fruit. When I see a good spot, I scan the area to make sure I’m alone, pose the persimmon, and click the shutter fast — before neighborhood busybodies spot the americana doing yet another weird thing. You gotta be quick.

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Pear on Sicilian Wall, copyright Jann Huizenga

Persimmons on Sicilian Walls, Copyright Jann Huizenga

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48 comments to Natura Morta

  • Sandee wheeler

    To think that I did not know what a persimmons looked like! Embarrassing. Thanks for the photos, Jann!

  • How lovely. Your photos are simply gorgeous and I can just imagine the locals watching your every move!

  • Aliza

    Love the first image! I wish you had left the background more clear though… beautiful.

    • Jann

      Hi Aliza–thanks for stopping by! Glad to hear your opinion on the background.I fuzzed it out so that the eye would focus on the fruit, but next time I’ll try it in that location with everything in focus to see how it looks. Ciao ciao

  • Anitre

    How cool are you! Posing fruit in the street. I love the composition. Love the colours. Brava, Jann!

    • Jann

      Anitre, as you can imagine such actions by a foreigner raise eyebrows. Even when I photograph old doors, Sicilians stop me and say, “Why in the world are you shooting THAT?”

  • Forse l’americana รจ un po ‘strana, ma lei prende belle fotografie!

  • vicki carol

    Jann,

    As a painter, I love your set-up. I just finished painting a series of oranges, some on plates, some alone, some in a bowl. Your fruit representing the now and the placement in the past is stunning. I will have to think about that as a possible future painting. Thanks for the idea.
    lovely
    Vicki

    • Jann

      Vicki, I’m sure I’d love your paintings. I love to keep oranges in a big bowl on the kitchen table. Better than flowers!

  • I love the contrasts in colors and textures – I’d buy a photograph to hang.

    • Jann

      Aw, Nan, you’re sweet. Thanks for the nudge–I’m hoping someday soon to put a few photos for sale on my website.

  • Barbara Smith

    Hi Jann, Thankyou so much for all your wonderful photos. I am a New Zealander and think of Ragusa Ibla as “my 2nd favourite place on earth”! I took a tiny toy kiwi bird with me last time and have many photos with “wee kiwi” in the foreground. I laughed aloud about the “got to be quick” comment – it is incredible how quickly the eyes appear. My favourite photo is one pf Wee Kiw that I took at sunset on the cobbles of Ragusa Ibla.

    • Jann

      Hi Barbara! What a great comment! Glad to hear you like my little town… Yes, eyes appear from behind curtains and shutters. Someone’s always watching. I don’t know what’s crazier–taking pix of fruit on the cobbles or toy birds?

  • Ria

    Awesome shots. Thanks for sharing,Jann.

  • Oh Jann!! How this post reminds me of someone I know ๐Ÿ˜‰ I adore still life in art. The beauty of Italy – as you know and capture so well – is the art that just happens everyday. Amazing fruit and beautiful shots! Un abbraccio, j

  • Ken

    Priceless, Jann. Love your work ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Jann

      Hi there Ken, what a pleasure to get your comment. I’ve checked out site and see you’re an avid photographer yourself!! Che bello.

  • Toni

    Love the photos!!! My husband made fun of how many photos I took while we were in Siciliy. The fruit looks sooooo tasty. Thanks for sharing.

    • Jann

      Toni, you can never take too many photos! So much fun! (Going thru them is a bit of a chore, though, isn’t it?)

  • Lovely shots, Jann. I know what you mean about posing and shooting QUICK! I do that, too, sometimes, though not nearly as well as you do!

  • Imagine writing a story to go along with those fabulous photos! What fun.

    • Jann

      Yes, really what I should do next time is leave the fruit rather than stuff it back in my bag and passers-by can make up stories about how/why it got there. ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Sam

    Nice contrast: the here-today-gone-tomorrow soft ripe fruit, against the cold, hard, ever-enduring stone.

  • wonderful presentation..such imagination..
    oh, how I look forward to these tidbits
    thank U….Mattea

  • Your description was so vivid it made me laugh. I can see you doing that. Sounds like an interesting day. Wish I could be a fly on the nearby wall. Baci.

  • Nancy

    Ah, so that’s what those things are that look like tomatoes that I’ve seen in the market. Loving Italy. The weather sure beats the single digit temps back home.

    • Jann

      Nancy, be sure not to eat the persimmons until they’ve ripe orange with brown spots. I mash them together with ripe bananas, stick the mixture in the fridge in little dessert cups (topped with pistachios) and call it pudding. Yum, and so good for you. (When the fruit peddler comes around he hawks persimmons by yelling that they’re good for your skin.)

  • L O V E !
    —the fruit has taken on their own characters.
    Lush. Delish.
    Creative, beautiful, Jann.
    Xxx kisses from MN.

  • Cathy

    These are beautiful Jann, the light is fantastic. Sicily is fantastic. There’s no snow. Looks like paradise to me. Keep doing weird things, it gives them all something to talk about and I’m pretty sure they all love you for it. xoxoxo

    • Jann

      Cathy, I figure if I amuse the locals, it’s a good thing. Luckily foreigners are judged on a different scale than locals–we have lots more leeway to act outside the mold.

  • carmela2000

    I love these Natura Morta pictures. I feel like eating the fruit! I, too, love photography and don’t go anywhere without my camera. These images reminded me of one instance when I went to the NY Botanical Garden, in the Bronx, and took with me some plastic figurines, one of which was a frog that attracted quite a lot of attention. One woman, watching me taking pictures of the fake creature asked me, “How do you get to pose that frog so still?”. I was tempted to tell her it was a good frog but told her the truth and she seemed disappointed but almost sad at the same time.

  • Diana

    Love them!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Great images, great contrast, Jann. Laughing at “.. doing yet another weird thing” x

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