Still life with bowl and pear.

Usually, it is difficult to describe exactly how you arrive at a work of art. The process grows and often flows from the works that preceded it.
I think my photographic work is strongly influenced by years of painting and drawing. And so the series I make now reflect this.
Still lives are a classic subject in painting. And photography has also made use of this. The advantage of still life is that it doesn’t move. And a photographer can therefore use a slow shutter speed. Technically, there are a lot of advantages to taking still-life photos.

I honestly don’t know if you can call the current series of photos, still-life photos, either. But they do come from this tradition.
For years, I organised still-life evenings with a group of artists in Amsterdam. This was every week at someone else’s studio. The host made the still life , which we then copied or painted using various materials. However, the still lifes often resembled an installation as larger objects were used. Half-finished sculptures or paintings were often part of these installations. bar stools, bicycles, mannequins, oil drums, and anything was used to create the still lifes.

I currently use this technique of building a scene for my photographs. Using materials from objects I found in nature and in the countryside. Some things were made by people and discarded, lying forgotten for years somewhere under pine needles or under a bush. Others are made from more natural elements, wood, wool, twigs, fruits, and vegetables… etc.
This combination of nature and discarded objects together with partially drawn painted parts give me a lot of freedom to play with.

The photos are made after some time searching and playing with various elements. Things should come together like a blind date party for 20 people. Some people don’t go together and clash, others work perfectly together. By discarding and adding players, replacing and swapping like in a football match, I end up getting the best composition for a story.
The installation or still life suddenly rises above its own function and turns into an image with more layers than I could grasp at that moment.