THE NETHERLANDS 51°56’26.5”N 4°28’25.1”E
“I am very curious how my relationship with self-portraiture will develop. We spent over a decade together already and I hope to explore self-portraiture through my aging body and mind.”
My work often explores themes that matter deeply to me, such as harmful beauty standards, gender identity, and climate change. Nature has always been a central part of my photography, just as it was a central part of my childhood. I grew up climbing trees and exploring forests, and now nature is both my backdrop and a source of energy. To me, it’s something worth protecting, and I hope my images reflect that. Looking back, my relationship with self-portraiture evolved in ways I didn’t expect. My earliest images were essentially close-up selfies, then came a more honest phase of basically setting up a camera and then exercising being vulnerable while forgetting it’s even there. Nowadays I often bring a topic or vague concept into the session and experiment from there, appreciating everything that happens off the beaten path. Now people most often don’t recognise my self-portraits as images of me. Which is a great compliment, as one of my biggest goals is to turn myself into an anonymous protagonist while still capturing the rawness and honesty that self-portraits allow. I’m very curious how my relationship with self-portraiture will develop. We spent over a decade together already and I hope to explore self-portraiture through my aging body and mind. I want to play more freely, break away from routines, push myself further. I want to be even more vulnerable, to care even less about conventional beauty, use my work to speak about the things that matter to me. And of course, I hope to inspire many people to explore the magic and the opportunities of self-portraiture.
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MOTHER VOLUME FOUR
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