Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

20th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Artistic
Still life-A basket of apples

A Tribute to CézanneThe photo series of “A Tribute to Cézanne”is based on classic still life paintings of the French Post-Impressionist pioneer Paul Cézanne, recreating the artist’s traditional still life paintings with modern elements to address the most concerning global social issue of plastic pollution and food safty, exploring artistic expression through the medium of photography to revitalize the life of traditional oil paintings. The recreation of classic paintings is not to simply copy the originals, but to innovate and keep up with the time. Plastic wrap and artificial little blue flowers evident in every photo of the whole series are symbols of contemporary elements, through which the photographer is drawing the global attention on food safety issues such as plastic pollution and transgenosis technology in the food industry, transforming the traditional classic oil paintings into contemporary photographic works with the significance of the times. Going through this series, the viewers were offered an opportunity to review classic paintings with a new perspective, and were chanlleged to think about what’s in each frame.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 07.2021
Date Uploaded: 11.2022
Photo Location: China
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Copyright: © Jing Guo