I personally believe that the idea of vanitas as a specific art form is more then likely a practice of the fine arts rather then photography. (..not to say that photography is not fine art...) As an area of photography in particular, I think that there are better ways of portraying matters of life and death or related issues then making a study of still life in the studio. That is in essence the advantages of being a photographer.
As a photographer, instead of spending hours in the studio creating a composition it is possible to get out into the world and create works that show the reality of the human condition as experienced every day. And the real world is surely the ultimate expression of life and death.
(Eddie Adams picture of the execution of a viet cong suspect )
Photographic images of real life will always more enlightening with regards to life and death then any painting or studio images could ever be... Robert Capa's famous image of the dying soldier in the spanish civil war, The work of Weegee in the 1930's, News reports of the vietam war, the falling man from 911. Even the mobile phone video of Sadam Hussain being hanged.
So what my conclusion is regarding Vanitas, is that as an art form I think it is of its time. In the 17th century oil on canvas was the digital camera of the day, so vanitas developed as a genre to express views and feelings of life and death as suited to that media. But as an idea the meaning of vanitas in art, what ever the medium is, will live on.
As photographers we have an excellent medium in which to express these ideas by showing the real world of life and death.
I would like to revisit this again, especially the environmental themes... but not in the 17th century style.
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