The object of macro photography, for me, is to intensely isolate a subject, demanding the viewer's full attention. To that end, it follows, essentially, the conventions of a "still life." To increase the focus, I float the object, intensely lit, in a black field made from a black cloth backdrop and a stool painted with minimally-reflective black paint. In each case, attention is called to the form of the symmetrical objects. In the case of the bar of soap, it is the rich colors that are emphasized and in the case of the lamp, its shape is described fully by the use of stark contrast in black and white. Each photograph invites a careful consideration of what may seem as mundane as a bar of soap or a rock treasured by no one but its owner, or as unimpressive as a 1970's lamp. All are elements of a household that are charged with meaning and, naturally, given our full participation in their consideration, beauty. By framing and photographing these objects, I make their value apparent and I establish them as worthy of art.