Family Tree

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This photograph was my first attempt at applying my style to still-lives. As beautiful as portraits are, portraiture photography is not in very high demand on the low end of the art market. I have been preparing for months to begin vending open editioned digital prints at booths, while my limited edition giclées circulate in galleries. I haven't reached out to apply for an exhibit in the past couple of years, but thankfully the galleries I've been connected to have left an open door for me! I reached out to the director of one of my favorite Detroit galleries to see the possibility of 2019 exhibitions, and she immediately shoed me in to present my work with French surrealist photographers in September! Very exciting for me. From our discussions, the price of my 12" limited edition Penalty Box should be on the rise. I have never raised my prices, but I have total confidence in her evaluation.

Back to the point, I needed a photograph that would sell well at vending events, so I was considering how I would apply my style to still-lives. The ambiguity of domestic life is one of the themes of my current project, and so I made this still-life called the "Family Tree". This is a "straight" photograph, meaning it's a single image with no photo compositing or digital illustration involved. Let me know if you can figure out how I did this. :)

Best,
John Dykstra