Stills and Strokes’ Paradies

Melanie Homann and Stefan Vorbeck are two German artists – an illustrator and photographer – who have each seen an incredible amount of success in their respective fields. Together, they form Stills and Strokes, an unstoppable duo whose individual backgrounds complement one another. This artistic synergy has resulted in beautiful pieces and exploration of various media, from collages, photos and paint to illustration.

As if this wealth of talent wasn’t enough, in 2010 the duo teamed with photographer Cosima Walther to create a brief but breathtaking set of photos called Paradies. The images were shot at the botanical gardens of Berlin and Hamburg, where the team used a special lighting setup to flash concrete blocks of color onto various sorts of foliage. I like the seductive, alien, Avatar-esque feeling this creates. By highlighting large swathes of leaves and nothing else, attention is drawn to things like form and texture: the velvet surface of the Colocasia, for example, the pattern of the Marantaceae or glistening drops of water. How does these images make you feel?

Photos © Stills and Strokes

For more work by Still and Strokes, visit their website.

Then, head over to Cosima Walther’s corner of the web for more of her stunning work.