Plates of elaborate food. Shoes. Sunglasses. Still life photography documents the paraphernalia of everyday life, transforming them into vibrant works of art. According to Tate, the genre “can be a celebration of material pleasures such as food and wine or often a warning of the ephemerality of these pleasures and of the brevity of human life.” These five photographers, longlisted for the 2026 Aesthetica Art Prize, train the audience attentions on modern society, using the celebrated artistic tradition to question how we perceive gender, consumerism and human relationships in the 21st century.
Olena Zubach | Plain Plane Cuts (2023-ongoing)
In Olena Zubach’s painterly photographic works, seemingly mundane household objects reveal a harmony of form and colour. Her compositions evoke a dual sense of tranquility and tension. A distinctive element of Zubach’s practice is her integration of digital and manual techniques: objects are 3D-printed and subsequently hand-painted by the artist. Her work is inspired by Giorgio Morandi, William Scott and Josef Albers, and Zubach crafts a visual language that exists in dialogue with their practice. Plain Plane Cuts uses paper and scissors, as well as the play of light and shadow, to create new forms.
Sonja Hofmann | Atelier de Pain (2023)
Sonja Hofmann is a Hamburg-based food photographer whose work transforms culinary subjects into visually striking narratives. She explores the tension between authenticity and staging, creating images that reflect contemporary food culture. Through precise composition, lighting and styling, she elevates everyday ingredients into aesthetic experiences that bridge commercial photography and artistic expression. Atelier de Pain presents bread as an artistic object. By shifting it from a basic staple to a visual subject, the work emphasises ingredients as both sensory and aesthetic experiences.
Sarah Maple and Meg Mosley | Domestic Abyss (2025)
In a new collaboration, award-winning artists Sarah Maple and Meg Mosley team up to create a compelling new photography series. Domestic Abyss is a highly constructed work of still lifes that delve into the female experience through the lens of domestic landscapes. With Maple’s witty challenging of gender stereotypes and Mosley’s intricate crafting of nuanced visual narratives, this series navigates the complexities of being a woman in the modern age. Together they invite audiences to engage with the multifaceted nature of womanhood with humour and irony, revealing the contradictions that shape contemporary female identity.
Shaz Fard | American Death (2025)
Shaz Fard is a London-based visual artist working between photography and painting. His cinematic still lifes reconstruct the visual language of consumer culture, forming a poignant exploration materialism, desire and psychological absence. Through highly staged compositions and saturated colour, his work exposes the blurred boundaries between beauty and violence. His series American Death extends this inquiry into the American Dream, using staged photography influenced by the visual language of Americana to look beyond the glossy veneer of consumerist ideals.
Sam Haynes | We Float (2025)
Sam Haynes started her practice nearly 30 years ago, creating public art installations and engaging local communities with the belief that art has the power to bridge divides within society. Accessibility lies at the heart of Haynes’ work, incorporating found objects and materials, using low tech methods of construction to create abstract assemblages, referencing architectural space. We Float uses small-scale assemblages as a metaphor for human connection, full of contrast and contradiction, where colour, light and composition suggest a dynamic interaction that is both playful and surprising.
These artists will feature in States of Becoming, the Aesthetica Art Prize 2026 Exhibition at York Art Gallery from 17 July – 15 November. Find out more: yorkartgallery.org.uk
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
1. Sonja Hofmann | Atelier de Pain (2023).
2. Olena Zubach | Plain Plane Cuts (2023-ongoing).
3. Sonja Hofmann | Atelier de Pain (2023).
4. Sonja Hofmann | Atelier de Pain (2023).
5. Sarah Maple and Meg Mosley | Domestic Abyss (2025).
6. Shaz Fard | American Death (2025).
7. Shaz Fard | American Death (2025).
8. Sam Haynes | We Float (2025).
