Memento Mori

Memento Mori, which translates literally from Latin as "remember you will die", inspired a movement of still life painting that dates back to the early 1600's.  Largely popular in Northern Europe, especially in the Netherlands, it served as a moral reminder, with Christian leanings, but also served as a form of symbolic reminder of the brevity of life. Depicting an animal fresh from the kill, capturing a flower in its final moment of bloom or a piece of fruit as it turns toward dust were all powerful visual reminders that life is but a delicate moment, to be lived fully.

This imagery & idea has been swimming around my consciousness since my first Art History class when I was a young college freshman. I've always been drawn to the various ways this one concept has been executed over hundreds of years and across continents. The last two images above are photos that my boyfriend and I shot together last year. I would like to continue this project over the years and see how our approach and perspective changes over time.