Persephone Queen of the Underworld

I recently worked with my partner Tim Brisko on a new still life photo.  We wanted to combine food photography with photo illustration.  In this piece, Persephone, we explore the symbolism of the myth of Persephone, the young maiden, daughter of Demeter, who found herself torn between two worlds, the underworld of Hades and the earth of her mother.  The pomegranate represents Persephone, split in two between her husband king of the underworld and her mother, goddess of the harvest and the seasons.  Three lone pomegranate seeds have fallen on the table, representing the three seeds she ate while in the underworld, which sealed her fate as queen of the underworld.  Hades is represented by the hourglass and Demeter by the shafts of wheat.  Foliage continues to grow, as nature always returns and takes over the earth.  The moth was a fun addition, with a nod to Dutch and Renaissance still life painters, who would often include a hyper-realistic living element, such as an insect, as a trompe l'oeil, or trick of the eye.  Thankfully Tim is a very talented retoucher and was able to add the moth in post production seamlessly.  We enjoyed working on this project together and look forward to future creative collaborations.