writings

︎ pr(e)ying eyes (2021)

wildlife photography as a form of paparazzi intrusion
do non-human beings have a need for privacy? and if so, is it comparable to that of human beings? does wildlife photography invade privacy? this essay seeks explore these questions by comparing paparazzi photography with wildlife photography regarding the concept of privacy invasion. 

this essay was published online here.

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︎ i see you, i feel you(2022)

on empathy and art
as i scroll for through the news i see so much pain: people suffering, animals on their way to extinction or the slaughterhouse (or both), unrepairable injustices being committed. on a daily basis we – in safe western Europe – are bombarded with horrifying images of people in pain. victims of war, violence and natural disasters. children and people who never asked to be put in this position; who never had a choice. we look at these images from our comfortable and safe distance.

do these depictions of suffering makes us more empathetic to the pain of others or do they actually make us grow cold? iargue that despite our safe distance we can and should empathize when viewing these images. at the base of this is an emotional mechanism that has often been denied. despite feelings of helplessness when seeing intense suffering of other living beings, we can choose to not shut off. instead, we can empathize. i further argue that the same emotional mechanism can create an empathetic connection between artworks and spectators.

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︎ the cameraless photographer (2023)

on the role of image making practices in the anthropocene
this summer i experienced an increasing antipathy for photography. an inconvenient development for a photography student. maybe it was the hours spent adding layers and using the “lasso tool” in photoshop, or perhaps the deception of discussing the work of susan sontag and ariella aïsha azoulay in class (desensitization is real). what i suddenly profoundly realized is that photographic art-as-we-know-it, by the likes of richard mosse or andreas gursky, does not make a difference to the biggest problem of our time. the work is visually stunning and unsettling, but it does nothing for our collapsing ecosystem. additionally, i realized that photography even deepens the problem. it is a highly-capitalistic and pollutive activity that produces anthropocentric imagery (demos, p.14)[3]. how could this medium change the way we look at the world and ourselves? the essay offers insights into this subject.

the essay was part of the publication terra incognita.

[3] https://icamiami-org.storage.googleapis.com/2017/06/dc83ec96-mirzoeff-demos_anthropocene-proofs-jan2017.pdf accessed on 29-11-2022.

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︎ wie is hier de idioot? (2023)

a review of the exhibition “will beauty save the world?” in the hague west, published by tubelight magazine (nr, 125).

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