In her series Early American, photographer Sharon Core reimagines the nineteenth-century still-life paintings of Raphaelle Peale, which celebrated the natural abundance and values of the young nation. Core uses Peale’s still lifes as a window through which to begin her own investigations into American national identity, nature, and the history of art. The series reflects her experience as a food stylist and painter, evident in the soft, almost painterly quality of the images. She collected antique items, such as the glassware pictured here, to replicate Peale’s paintings. The gleam of the glassware and the sumptuous colors of the fruit recall the rich sensuality of Peale’s still lifes. Harnessing photography’s claim to truth, Core adds a layer of deception, illusion, and artifice to the painter’s symbolic reflections of early America.