At Unseen 2024 we will present works by 3 photographers with their new Series: Bryan Schutmaat with Sons of the Living, Jeroen Hofman with his Series Zeeland and Thomas Manneke with Zillion.
Bryan Schutmaat:
“Sons of the Living” is a body of work about the land and people along highways in the deserts of the American West. It includes intimate portraits of travelers—mostly hitchhikers and drifters who dwell along the interstate system—as well as landscapes and still life photos that reflect a country in peril. Amidst the backdrop of environmental decline, economic dispossession, and societal neglect, this work depicts the human capacity for endurance. At our critical moment in history, as we witness but fail to understand the frailty of our ecology, economy, and social stability, “Sons of the Living” creates an atmospheric narrative that foreshadows the risks of our society’s current path. The work both honors yet subverts the American photographic roadtrip tradition with an updated view of the 21st century’s “open road” that addresses a new era of anxiety.
Jeroen Hofman:“Zeeland” is a popular holiday destination in general. People from various nationalities gather here, at the edge of the North Sea. The coastline still shows so-called natural traces within the cultural landscape, meaning that this land was shaped by two forces, nature and humankind. This is a multifaceted landscape: harsh, raw, fine, empty, and seemingly endless. This region, which Jeroen Hofman visually describes, represents a bridge between the past and the current era. Its history is reflected in the waves breaking on the sand of its vast beaches. The flat strips of open land reaching all the way to the horizon set a very particular scene for the northern light. A characteristic light depicted perfectly by the 17th century Dutch painters. The current face of the same landscape is marked by ingenious solutions of creative and motivated individuals defying the seasons and the tides to demand compensation from the soil for what the sea has always and continues to reclaim. The constant confrontation of these opposing forces is barely visible in the visual harmony of the panoramas. All tension and divergences seem to fade under the colourful spectacle of grey clouds and wide blue skies. But a strong impression remains, a light saltiness of the tongue, caused by the wind coming from the north.
Thomas Manneke:With Zillion, Thomas Manneke proves that you don't need to embark on a journey for poetic images. All photographs were taken in and around his Amsterdam studio. In front of his large format camera, the shadow of the late afternoon sun transforms an old coat rack with balls into a galaxy. A houseplant, a large rubber ear or the lid of a box: look closely at something mundane and you will see that the possibilities are endless and beauty is everywhere.