Chuck Ramirez saw even the most ordinary objects as storytellers, carriers of meaning, and triggers of emotion. Why make a monumental image of the messy remains of a meal? Just as a 17th-century Dutch still-life painting with flowers and fruit, bits of meat and cheese, silver, and crystal tells about daily life and hints at its transience, Ramirez’s photograph suggests fuller, more complex stories than merely one about a hearty breakfast.