Lonneke van der Palen, Wave, 2011. From the series “Souvenir”. Courtesy of Kahmann Gallery. Copyright Lonneke van der Palen
Times are changing in the face of photography, with emerging photographers creating, building and installing before taking the final plunge of pushing that button. This year at the Unseen Photo Fair, Amsterdam, a wide range of young and upcoming photographers will showcase new works spanning documentary to still life to fine art to portraiture.
Dutch photographer Lonneke van der Palen’s highly constructed “Tumblr-esque” photographs play with the notion of carefully constructed objects placed within images, dispaying them in a fine art context. Here, Sleek speaks with van der Palen on her practice, how photography is changing and what we can expect from her at this year’s Unseen.
A lot of your work is still life, what is it about building and creating the object that interests you?
What I like about photography, is that magic comes to life. You create illusions far from reality, but present it as reality. I think this is the power of photography. Rearranging objects in a way you would never find them in real life. A created meeting between objects or transforming ordinary objects into monumental ones. The familiar becomes unusual. For example, an image of mine can simply depict a piece of blue paper but it might imply an exotic ocean. By presenting the subjects of my photography in a certain way, it summons new and contrasting associations and meanings.
Would you label yourself as strictly a photographer, or do you think your work crosses into sculpture and installation?
Both. Creating an image is not a fast or easy process and I approach my work a bit like a sculptor or painter would approach theirs. I start with a concept and create an image that reflects those ideas. Then I add certain elements, take them out again, or completely deconstruct the image only to start from scratch the next day. This goes on until I am completely satisfied with even the smallest of detail in the picture. So yes, in a way I am a photographer and sculptor and stylist at the same time.
In the presentation of my work, it’s also about changing the way of looking at the medium itself. By presenting photographs in a three-dimensional way I explore the tension between image and physical presence. I approach photography with a point of view that might seem to fit a sculptor rather than a photographer.
Can you tell me more about the project “Souvenir”? How did it come about and how can you have memories of somewhere you have never been?
The series “Souvenir: Memories of a journey never made” is the result of a staged journey inspired by the ultimate clichés among travel photography. The posing in stunning landscapes, sunsets, wildlife, exotic food, the indigenous population: they almost become icons. By recreating these images, photography enables me to visit distant worlds and gather souvenirs of a journey that has never been made.
What I am saying is that maybe you can imagine yourself in a culture more – that is, more involved in the elements of the culture that appreciates you- when you are viewing images of it instead of actually travelling trough the country. If I’d made a real trip, the highlights blend into a slurry of everyday images which makes travelling a turbid experience compared to the five minutes that I experience when I see pictures of it.
How has working with Foam Museum and Unseen photo fair influenced your practice?
Foam and Unseen are one of the largest photography platforms in the world at the moment. So in that sense, it’s an honour to be part of it.
The work I’m presenting this year is “The Assistant”. The title already explains itself. This is a series dedicated to the people that are closely involved in the realisation of my work. An ode to the “helping hand”. In my work I create images that often depict an abstract reality. In studios, as well as on location, I build complete sets or constructions in which shape, colour and light achieve a perfect balance with each other. Consequently, the final result gets an almost inhuman, graphic character. By focussing on the involvement of people during the making process, it breaks through the illusion of an artificial reality. I capture their hands in action at the moment they almost become a sculpture, and without them knowing, they become the subject in the photo.
Lonneke van der Palen, Transparency Film 2013. From the series “Dry Water”. Courtesy of Kahmann Gallery. Copyright Lonneke van der Palen
What is next in store for you in terms of projects?
I’m working on a new project called “Flip Canvas”. In this work I expose the actual process. This creates an interesting interaction between creating an illusion, and the severance of that illusion. At the exact same distance of the photographed subject, I take another picture from behind in an almost mathematical way. A “behind the scenes” picture, literally from behind the created image, which shows the viewer the construction.
By highlighting the other side of the subject as well, I explore the tension between image and physical presence. I acknowledge the physicality of the photographed subject in a way a single photo on the wall could never do. The picture gets a sculptural form. And by doing so, I add an extra dimension to photography.
In the end, I would like to present them as sculptures in a space where you can walk through, and where you can experience front and back as three-dimensional. Or in a book, in which you can literally flip the pictures while you browse through it. Fronts and backs become inseparable.
We have three pairs of tickets for the Unseen Photo Fair to give away to lucky Sleek readers. All you need to do to win is be in Amsterdam between 18-21 September 2014 and email get@sleekmag.com.
Read more art reviews and interviews in our Showroom section.