Jan Groover isn’t a name that very many people recognize. She was a photographer of some reputation, but hardly what you could call well known. She died on New Years Day at age 68. The Wall Street Journal has published one of the few comprehensive articles on her career that I’ve been able to find online.
Untitled (Jan Groover - 1987)
I came across Groover’s work years ago, during my obsessive-compulsive reading phase when I was consuming photography books like bags of potato chips. I count her among my major influences because it was her work that introduced me to the possibilities of the still-life involving common objects. She was using silverware, I turned to toys and other items that I found around the house.
I can’t say I consciously decided to follow in Groover’s footsteps but there was something very simple and elegant about her work that I was admiring. I’ve drifted in and out of the still-life for years now and some of my work on table-tops is among my best.
Dog Invasion (©2003 Richard X. Moore)
It’s sad that I’m reminded of my connection to Jan Groover only by her death. It would be still sadder, though, it I didn’t note her passing or the inspiration I had gotten from her work.
The ADD-Challenged Eye 