For the last month I've been a bit of a fixture at the St George's Market fish stalls, searching for interesting fish and getting the stallholders to help me pick out the prettiest ones. I got some great cooking advice too, and, though I started out feeling quite squeamish about the whole thing, eventually I settled into a pattern of using the fish as models in the morning and making a delicious dinner in the evening. John Dory was my best discovery - it's quite a fearsome-looking creature, but fabulous pan-fried with butter, lemon and white wine.
But I'm not really here to dispense cooking advice: I wanted to show you a few of my favourite images as I finish this project. I know they're weird and maybe even a bit disturbing, but I think that they're beautiful too. Small fish have a jewel-like quality that's lovely to look at.
I was discussing the project with a goldsmith friend, who talked about the practice many cultures have of placing a coin over the eyes of a dead person, to "pay the ferryman", originally Charon, carrying the souls of the dead across the river Styx, in Greek mythology. The idea struck me that these were the fish of the Styx, paying their way to the other side with abandoned buttons from the river, fallen from the clothing of the other travellers. Styxfish....
I was at the Sainsbury's fish counter again yesterday - initially to avoid speaking to someone who, on our last encounter, asked me was I not married or retired yet. What? Are these the only two states to which any sensible person would aspire?
But there were some appealing langoustines on the counter, marked down to half price. So I bought a few and had a little photoshoot this morning, continuing with my theme of vintage button eyes...
I'm your lobster.
Hippy langoustine.
I don't do much still life work, but last weekend I took a fit of inspiration at the Sainsbury's fish counter. Their fresh whole sea bass looked so pretty. And they're delicious too.
So I picked out the three most appealing ones and added them to my basket of nutritious and stylish foodstuffs.
I tried photographing them first on a simple grey linen cloth.
I quite liked this, and I got a few nice instagram shots with my phone at this point. But, to put it politely, there was an element of seeping onto the cloth that wasn't quite so pretty, and I was also concerned about their eyes. No offence, Sainsbury's, but I think that one of the signs of a very lovely fresh fish is that it has clear, bright eyes. These poor ladies were looking rather dull and sunken round the eyes. I have every sympathy with that myself, but I thought that something more sparkly might look more attractive.
So in another stroke of inspiration (unusual to get two in as many days) I got out my extensive vintage button and chose some substitute eyes. These were my favourites.
They also looked quite cool in sunglasses.
And then I started to pose them in different combinations.
An enjoyable morning's surreality, all in all. I'm still pondering what the meaning of fish with vintage button eyes might be, but I suspect I'm just not deep enough to work it out.
