Memento Mori, Mate. (Still Life with Chinese Banquet) Photograph

Jasmine Poole is a multidisciplinary artist and photographer based in Sydney, Australia. Poole studied at the St George School of Fine Art and later at COFA University of New South Wales where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Photomedia) with Distinction. Her practice predominantly explores the act of story telling and the sociology of space and objects. Her works have been selected for inclusion in prizes including The Moran, Olive Cotton, Sydney Life and Fishers Ghost. Most recently she was awarded The Head On NSW Photographic Landscape Prize which has been acquired as part of the permanent collection at Parliament NSW. Chris Sewell is an art director originally from the UK but now based in Sydney, Australia. His practice is based in fashion photography and art direction. Sewell studied at Leeds College of Art and Design where he received a BA (Hons) of Visual Communications. started his career as a textile print designer with Paul Smith in London. During his time at Paul Smith he worked on numerous special projects with highlights including Paul Smith Project 10 which was exhibited at the London Design Museum. His work has taken him to the other side of the globe where he now creatively directs for one of Australia's leading fashion brands. Jasmine and Chris first started collaborating together in 2018 on instagram project @suburban_kingdoms, a curation of real estate photos intended to preserve an Australian Suburbia that is quickly disappearing. This interest in history and preservation has led them to develop the ongoing photographic series ‘There’s Still Life’. ‘There’s Still Life’ An object itself holds no significance in it’s physical being without the attachment of function, memory and of story. As humans the tendency to project symbolism and sentiment upon objects has long been a prevalent trait. The ongoing series ‘There’s Still Life’ explores the act of preserving of objects that have been donated or discarded by their previous owners. It pieces together fragments of others lives and projects onto them a new imagined narrative and purpose.Inspired by the centuries-old tradition of still life arrangement in painting and photography, the works take visual signifiers from vintage commercial advertising. These signifiers have manipulated the way we view objects and the value we place upon them. It has created a subconscious notion of a utopian lifestyle shaped by the material goods we surround ourselves with.