On the roof

2017  –  

During this six-month project, my visual research concentrated on an image study in which I de-contextualized my own body and placed it within a very specific location, namely: roofs. Roofs as a visual theme unite a number of elements that I encounter in my personal life.

Initially, roofs do not take place directly within the human plot. Roofs are indispensable and yet we are hardly aware of their presence. It is a world that takes place at the meta level. At the moment I also experienced my own world of feeling as such; it is there, and without it I would not be complete, but for others my inner world is not immediately visible.

In addition, the roof is a dead end. It is therefore also a place where you only flee to utter despair. It is in great contrast to the overview that you are often offered there. Overview that is often lacking when you really don’t like the current situation anymore and the roof is your only way out.

The elements (roof tiles, lead strips, chimneys, etc) serve the functionality and not the beauty. In a way, you could also see our body as such. Everything about our body has a function. My photos take place at this intersection. Functionality and aesthetics are reciprocal.

I chose to use an analog camera and black and white image. In this way, there is no other information such as color that distracts from the core, the analog way of working also provides more intensity through the grain, which gives the photo a rougher look.

Additional photographs from this project have been omitted at the request of the model, who prefers not to have her face displayed online.