Existing in opposition to the ubiquity and ephemerality of photographic images in our daily lives, Learoyd uses a homemade camera obscura to make unique, large-scale darkroom prints that invite viewers to linger, process and sensorially enter his images. With this method, an incredible level of detail and presence is achieved. Viewers feel immersed in the scene presented here, as if they could feel, smell the leaves and fruits resting on the earthy, heavy pedestal. Incorporating strong references to the history of painting, Learoyd’s use of soft and subtle colors enhances the fragility of the natural elements in this contemporary still life.

"The pictures are about extending the duration of looking…"
-Richard Learoyd

Learoyd is one of the leading photographers working today and has been the subject of solo museum exhibits at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles; and Fundación MAPFRE. Photographs by the artist are housed in important public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Victoria & Albert Museum; the Tate, London; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City.