Passionate about art history, Charlotte Fröling chose in 2009 to reconnect with the pictorial themes of the past through photography. Whether in her series Flowering Beauties (2009) where she revisits the still life genre, or in Garden of Eden (2011) inspired by paintings of baroque landscapes ; the artist has been engaged for many years in a genuine dialogue with the great masters of European art.
Like her predecessors, Charlotte Fröling pays special attention to the light in her photographs. In the Garden of Eden series (dedicated to the divine beauty of nature), she wanted it to flow through the various colours of the leaves, like in the impressionists' paintings. Patiently she followed the weather forecast to be able to catch the gardens in mist, giving the work a soft light quality.
Nature is the photographer's primary source of inspiration. In her first exhibition, Nature in Harmony (2008), the motifs are all from Falsterbo, a small village in the southern part of Sweden. She tried to catch the serenity and the tranquillity of the nature down in Falsterbo with its long white beaches, without any human presence. In 2009 she began shooting the Flowering Beauties series inspired by the flower still lifes painted in the 17th Century. Instead of depicting many flowers she made close-ups of carefully chosen flowers against a golden background.
In 2014 Charlotte started working on the project she had dreamt of doing for many years, The Still Lifes series. She wanted to recreate still lifes inspired by historical paintings. Therefore she put lots of effort in the details and their symbolism, trying to find antique objects, game, vegetables, fruits, flowers etc. resembling those in the old masters paintings. Charlotte's aim was to photograph all the categories such as fish still lifes, banquet pieces, floral pieces and many more. When photographing the still lifes she sought to arrange them to achieve the best possible angle of vision and the best light. All her photos were taken in natural light on a table in her entrance hall. Still lifes from the Dutch word "still leven" means quite simply motionless things. Of main importance is a table upon which the objects can be arranged and depicted. The theme of the transitory is fundamental to 17th century still life painting, as if the paintings in themselves sought to convey the idea that life is short whereas art is eternal. Many small details were included to underscore this message such as glasses that have fallen over, decaying flowers and blown out candles.
