14 november 2023, Flor Linckens
Exploring the night with Nele Van Canneyt
Until 14 January 2024, Contour Gallery in Rotterdam is presenting a solo exhibition by Nele Van Canneyt. The Belgian photographer has the ability to project her inner world onto reality, while simultaneously capturing the elusive.
In her work, Van Canneyt explores the silence of cities shrouded in darkness and the subtle transitions from light to dark. She draws inspiration from a quote by Ernest Hemingway: "The things of the night cannot be explained in the day because they do not then exist." Van Canneyt creates urban landscapes in which the boundaries between day and night, and between dream and reality, momentarily blur.
Her serene photographs are not staged but capture reality as she perceives it. She skillfully uses light, colour, and composition, imbuing the images with a cinematic quality. For instance, we see a woman illuminated solely by the nocturnal street lights, a deserted gas station, or the last streak of light on a street corner before the sun finally sets.
The photographer's process requires a degree of isolation, yet she always relates to others. Her work is an exploration of the city, but also of the anonymous people that navigate it. Van Canneyt is immensely curious about their thoughts and motivations. The inscrutable and mysterious character of these people, effectively strangers, is something that fascinates her immensely and for which she is inspired by philosophers such as Emmanuel Levinas. Her characters always seem to be gazing at something beyond our view, making us even less certain of the context or their thoughts. It results in snapshots that tell a story without words.
“A real situation can be seen and interpreted in several ways. The questions and interpretations of the viewer are for me as significant as what is really going on in the picture. Most of the images function autonomously, the meaning of the individual images may shift according to the succession in which they are shown.”
Van Canneyt's photos reflect the universal human connection with our environment and simultaneously reveal the homogeneity of various urban landscapes. In doing so, she visualises a shared experience that transcends cultural and geographical boundaries. For instance, her series "Inner land" was captured in Bruges during the pandemic. The quiet streets and the sense of time standing still will likely evoke a feeling of recognition in many people.
Van Canneyt initially studied Journalism and Communication, followed by a degree in Photography at the LUCA School of Arts in Ghent. In 2021, she released a photography book titled ‘As if the day never existed’. Her work has been showcased in Musea Brugge, the Bernice Nylon Factory, Flanders House in New York, Schouwburg Kortrijk, and during Unseen and the Canadian photography festival 'Rencontres internationales de la photographie en Gaspésie'.
