A TELIER
Portrait of a Lady HENDRIK KERSTENS
INTERVIEW
WITH
S
triking, inspiring and all with an underlying message is the best way to describe the work of Dutch photographer, Hendrik Kerstens. His portraits look somewhat familiar and
somehow induce you to ask; is it a Vermeer? A Christus? A van Eyck? The subject of his work is his daughter, Paula, who is often portrayed as a pale but dignified young woman whose face emerges in profile from a deep shadow, dressed in the traditional Dutch Golden Age attire. Kerstens' work does not just imitate the work of leading Dutch masters' paintings. His work is a game of conceptual and humorous dialog between past and present. 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. Hendrik shared with Atelier the essence of his work and style, the reason behind his focus on Dutch painters of the 17th Century and what's next for him.
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