The Matter of Fact
The Netherlands, 2021.
The Matter of Fact is a visual meditation on relationships as an essential human need and a core theme that shapes them — how we deal with conflict.
Our unique life experience shapes our perception of the world, making the supposedly rational rarely free of interpretation and personal feelings, despite how it might be presented in public discourse. Our diverse perspectives enrich life, but they also cause tension. How we deal with them is not only key to our everyday experience, but also determines how society is able to master challenges like climate change, which ask for collective action. Conflict management is not a gift, it is a skill that can be learned.
In The Matter of Fact I use the essential affordance of photography to capture a moment otherwise lost. Introducing a simple glass pane, for an instant ephemeral sculptures of wind, water, sand and light emerge from interaction with the sea, to be recorded with the camera. The images resulting from this encounter of the elements hold a timelessness which invites reflection and offer space for a whole range of emotions that may arise when taking care of ourselves, each other and the world around us.
Prints available on request.