Research: Still Life - Ray Massey

I think Ray Massey's still life photography is amazing, it's creative and it looks great fun.

Some of the things he has created with everyday objects is extraordinary for example this photograph -the pot of pencils 

 I really like how Ray Massey has used fingers to substitute for pencils, pens and paintbrushes. I also like how their not in a perfect straight order they look like they have just been stuck in in any random way. The detail and colours painted on the fingers make it look realistic and at first when i quickly glanced i thought that some were real and some were fingers. Its almost an optical illusion and i think its great. 

I also like the composition of the hand(pot) its in the middle and the fingers and are coming out of it in all directions like an explosion.

I was also pleased with this image:

it's scary but quite pleasant at the detail of the snake from the teeth to its scales and eyes. I don't know if it is a real snake but it definitely looks like it is. I think the focus point is the fangs and the tip of the nose as its in the middle of the image.The lighting on the snakes teeth makes more interesting because if it was all just red it might look a bit plain. The snakes head gives a bumpy texture and i don't know what it was created with but it looks like wax and that gives a smooth texture look.

I think Ray Massey chose that angle because its very effective by making the audience wonder what the snake was pouncing at. Also the amount of space left around the snakes head is intriguing but perfect because if he chose to make less space then the image wouldn't be as effective as it would look like part of it was cut off.

I like the range of material Ray Massey uses too from the wax looking material for the snake  and to a toothbrush like this image:

I feel that Ray Massey using water bottles as a substitute for the bristles of a toothbrush is ironic but hilarious at the same time because you put water on a toothbrush. Also like this image:

This too is just clever and also a different way of thinking as we always expect water to come out but would be shocked if miniature water bottles came out with the water. 

Both these images have the horizontal lines from tiles in the background leading to the the toothbrush or to the tap. And the vertical lines represent the water bottles for example in the first image the bottles are stood upright and in the second image they are falling out of a tap.

Another material i thought was ironic was the Uncle Ben's rice:

I think this image is ironic because Uncle Ben makes rice and to have the picture of Uncle Ben made from rice is great. 

Again I like all of Ray Massey's photographs and they are very clever, funny and great.