Still life photography is the depiction of inanimate subject matter, most typically a small grouping of objects. Still life photography more so than other types of photography gives the photographer more leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a composition. Often still life photography is based on Dutch still life painting from the 17th century.

Still life photography is a demanding art, one in which the photographers are expected to be able to form their work with a refined sense of lighting, coupled with supurb compositional skills. The still life photographer makes pictures rather than takes them. So what is contemporary still life photography