31 march 2026, Emily Van Driessen
Texture in Photography: The Techniques of Joost Vandebrug
"This series is about 'seeing for the first time', before the world has formed itself into clear objects." - Joost Vandebrug
In his recent exhibition at Bildhalle, Not Yet The Image, Dutch artist Joost Vandebrug (b. 1982) explores botanical structures, drawing inspiration from the systematic plant studies and early photographic experiments of Karl Blossfeldt, who captured stems, buds, and leaves in magnified detail, as though they were architectural forms.
Vandebrug also engages with the seriality of subtle shifts in nature, playing with distance and perspective. He is both an artist and a researcher, possessing a profound command of the technical aspects of photography. His works incorporate a range of printing techniques, including pigment transfers and silver gelatin prints. The sensitivity and fragility of historical photographic processes are central to his practice, in which imperfections are consciously embraced.
Joost Vandebrug, The Sea, from Pillow Book, 2026, Bildhalle Amsterdamm
In this exhibition, he works primarily with photo emulsion on two types of paper. To frame the tactile distinctions within his practice, a brief explanation of this working process follows.
Vandebrug employs a photo emulsion transfer technique, whereby the actual image layer of a photographic print is carefully separated from its original support. This thin, fragile layer — comparable to a kind of photographic skin — is then transferred onto another surface. This process allows the image to subtly distort, forming small cracks or folds, and acquiring an organic character.
Joost Vandebrug, Clouds I, from Moment in Time 2025, Bildhalle
At times, he applies this image layer to 5 gsm washi, an extremely fine Japanese paper. Washi is handmade and renowned for its long, delicately visible fibres. As the paper is almost transparent, light can partially pass through it, producing a soft, poetic, almost drifting effect. At the same time, it is remarkably strong for its weight, though it remains a fragile material, sensitive to touch and movement. The irregular fibre structure ensures that the image never appears entirely taut or flat, but always retains a subtle sense of vitality.
The work is then fused with thermoformable acrylic, a transparent plastic that can be shaped under heat. By heating and bending the material, the artist introduces a gentle relief, allowing the photograph to move beyond the flat plane and assume a sculptural quality. The image appears, as it were, to float upon the paper.
Joost Vandebrug, 26-20 acanthus, 2026, Bildhalle
Joost Vandebrug, 26-24 (based on) pumpkin, 2026, Bildhalle
In a second body of work, the technical foundation remains the same, but the poetic quality shifts through the use of a different paper. Handmade paper, thicker and heavier, characterised by visible fibres, deckled edges, and irregularities, becomes a more present and tactile support for the images.
Together, these two approaches demonstrate how the artist liberates photography from its traditional flat surface, redefining it as a tactile and unique work of art, in which texture plays a role equal to that of the original photographic image.
The exhibition runs until 6 June 2026 at Bildhalle in Amsterdam.
