"Since 1995, Dutch photographer Hendrik Kerstens has been photographing his daughter, Paula. His photographs have been collected by museums around the world and have inspired taste-makers as diverse as Elton John and Alexander McQueen. (McQueen, in fact based his Fall 2009 collection on Kerstens' image of Paula with a plastic bag as a head-dress, using the image as his invitation for the show.)

Initially Kerstens' photographs were created out of the artist's desire to capture something of the fleeting moments that fade of childhood. The pictures recorded everyday events – his daughter's sunburn, the child's bath. However, one day there was a moment of revelation when Kerstens not only saw her in relation to the events of her own life, but also projected on her his interest in the Dutch painters of the seventeenth century.
 As Kerstens recalls, "One day Paula came back from horseback riding. She took off her cap and I was struck by the image of her hair held together by a hair-net. It reminded me of the portraits by the Dutch masters and I portrayed her in that fashion. After that I started to do more portraits in which I refer to the paintings of that era. The thing that fascinates me in particular is the way a seventeenth-century painting is seen as a surface which can be read as a description of everyday life as opposed to the paintings of the Italian renaissance, which usually tell a story. Northern European painting relies much more on craftsmanship and the perfect rendition of the subject. The use of light is instrumental in this."


A number of the portraits of Paula are clearly reminiscent of Johannes Vermeer. The austerity of the photograph, its clarity, the serene expression on the young girl's face, and not least, the characteristic "Dutch" light, all combine to create this impression.
 However, Kerstens was not just imitating painting. As the series progressed, he became increasingly interested in the game of creating a conceptual and humorous dialog between past and present. The titles give the game away. "Napkin" looks like a maid's bonnet. In "Bag", a plastic grocery bag is shaped to look like a lace hood. In other pictures no pretense is made to imitate 17th century clothing but Paula's face and Kerstens' light turn a thoroughly modern hoodie into a classic and timeless garment.

Conceptually, Kerstens' photographs play with the dialog between the mediums of painting and photography, with seriality, and time. On a more emotional level, they address everyday reality while expressing his love for his child, and the knowledge and development of his craft."

In album Hendrik Kerstens (26 photos)

http://onnycarr.com/2012/05/09/olivia-may

In album Portraits (1 photo)

Olivia May

http://ducksofrubber.blogspot.com

]]> http://onnycarr.com/2012/05/10/jasmin-lai-when-i-grow-up/feed 1 http://onnycarr.com/2012/05/10/coffee-lab http://onnycarr.com/2012/05/10/coffee-lab#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 20:22:07 +0000 onny http://onnycarr.com/2012/05/10/coffee-lab Testing out the slick new Google Plus app for the iPhone. Thankyouthankyouthankyou for finally fixing the photo upload feature! That feature was completely borked in the last couple of releases.

Happy #CoffeeThursday

One of the joys of living in Los Angeles is meeting talented local artists, one such as the lovely Olivia May pictured here. She enlisted my help in creating an image that fits in with her classic country music.  I immediately start thinking of wide open spaces, golden light, guitars, cowboy boots and a pretty summer dress blowing in the wind

On to the first item in that list.  There’s a Japanese Garden nearby, part of the water treatment plant in Van Nuys, that’s been used for photo and film shoots a number of times.  I recall that on the way to the garden there happens to be a wide open park area with cycling and jogging trails, that’s also filled with a lot of lush, unmanicured natural growth, which I think will provide a fitting environment very nicely.

The weather, normally very reliably sunny, had been acting weird the past two weeks.  Low clouds, fog, overcast skies and chilly temperatures all around.  It literally felt like I was back in the Bay Area.  Luckily come shooting day though, not a cloud was in the sky, and the temperature was just about perfect.  Hot, but not sweltering.  Check!

Olivia May arrived wearing this stunning dress that she bought at a secondhand store.  What a score!  That’s one more item checked off on my list.

We had plenty of time.  I took a lot of shots at various spots in the park, but in my mind I only had one image I absolutely must have. All I needed is to wait until the sun comes down to around 15-20 degrees above the horizon.  At the appropriate time, I got Olivia in position with her guitar.  I placed her in the scene with the sun around 45 degrees behind her to her right, and snapped the photo.

I think this image captures the mood of her songs rather nicely.

In album Portraits (1 photo)

We Are Unamused

In album Life in SoCal (1 photo)

Make Merry

In album Life in SoCal (1 photo)

Even After The Music Stopped

In album Portraits (1 photo)

Gentleman In The Hat

In album Portraits (1 photo)

The Girl Who Juggles