‘As far as the eye can see’ is my personal romanticised view of my home country, The Netherlands. Having moved to England at the age of 6, and only returning home during the holiday periods, my perspective of the country is very unique. Painted with my longing and nostalgia to be home again, it becomes a calming dream. Pining for the vast, open flat lands, the never ending channels, lakes and seas flowing, the William Turner-esque skies weighing heavily on the low lying land.
All images were taken across different places in the Netherlands, using a Mamiya RB67 Medium Format Camera. This project is about experience and being, I wanted the process of photography to be entirely immersive and allow myself to experience my dreams, in my reality. To soak up every wave, every gust of wind, every singing seagull.
This display is a visual metaphor, a universally abstract series of images which expresses the need to be home again, the displacement and appreciation of being away for a prolonged period of time. Everyone feels it, whether home is fifty miles away, or five hundred. I wanted these images to flow and connect with people, like water. Water connects all people and all places, but water is especially present in the Netherlands, something which moulds and tethers the Dutch to their land.
Water is me, water is you, water is us. Water separated us, but water also brought us together again. Water defines who I am, it defines my homeland, it connects me with my people.
As a photographer, I find the most thrills in capturing humanity, meaning my work is largely based around portraiture, documentary and fashion photography. I seek to create new perspectives of people who surround us, as well as frequently using myself and my own life experiences as my subject matter.