In March 2020, the world went into lockdown. Both the slowing down of time and being in relative isolation was motive to reflect on time passed and time yet to come. I decided to go back to my roots and explore the ‘unique’ image, using an old camera with a new process.
The camera obscura has been around for hundreds of years. Used as a tool by scientist and artists like Da Vinci and Vermeer. I decided to build my own ultra large camera obscura. Standing inside, it takes time to get used to the dark and to immerse myself in the image which is projected inside the camera. Almost everything looks beautiful, with such detail. It is and intense experience to cut and put up the paper in the complete dark, only using touch as a reference. When I sit and watch the image during the long exposure times it feels like it is holding my time as well. It is a slow way of working, both in the studio and outside.
I use a color reversal process to develop my photographs. It’s an experimental process which is about ‘control’ and ‘embracing the unexpected’ at the same time. It involves a lot of research, experiment and an approach in how a topic will fit the camera in stead of the other way around. Many elements play a part in the final outcome of the image. Once the photograph is developed nothing can be changed. The photograph is unique, one of a kind.
Traces of the making proces are visible in the photographs. Not only thru the chemicals used, but also thru the decisions I made while standing in the dark inside the camera obscura. And while you can look at the large photographs from a distance, you can discover beauty in details and small anomalies that trigger your mind; I Invite You to Come Closer.
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The camera obscura has been around for hundreds of years. Used as a tool by scientist and artists like Da Vinci and Vermeer. I decided to build my own ultra large camera obscura. Standing inside, it takes time to get used to the dark and to immerse myself in the image which is projected inside the camera. Almost everything looks beautiful, with such detail. It is and intense experience to cut and put up the paper in the complete dark, only using touch as a reference. When I sit and watch the image during the long exposure times it feels like it is holding my time as well. It is a slow way of working, both in the studio and outside.
I use a color reversal process to develop my photographs. It’s an experimental process which is about ‘control’ and ‘embracing the unexpected’ at the same time. It involves a lot of research, experiment and an approach in how a topic will fit the camera in stead of the other way around. Many elements play a part in the final outcome of the image. Once the photograph is developed nothing can be changed. The photograph is unique, one of a kind.
Traces of the making proces are visible in the photographs. Not only thru the chemicals used, but also thru the decisions I made while standing in the dark inside the camera obscura. And while you can look at the large photographs from a distance, you can discover beauty in details and small anomalies that trigger your mind; I Invite You to Come Closer.
.