Interview Matthijs Uivel
Photography is the craft of framing.
Name: Matthijs Uivel
Hometown: Antwerpen, Belgium
Style of photography: Autonomous
Type of camera(s): digital Canon // analog Hasselblad // viewcamera.
Website: www.matthijsuivel.nl
What gives you inspiration?
Research, I like to work things out from the ground up. So I guess my inspiration is mainly ‘manufactured’. I slowly build up works, I make sketches, I do some research and then reflected upon it. Obviously I have those eureka moments now and again. But generally I like to believe that I have a lot of control over my work process. My inspirations, or better yet, my ‘ideas’, are carefully cultivated and harvested only when they are ready to.
Besides the fact that they are cultivated I could also say most of my ideas come out of the potential I see in everyday objects, locations or situations. The potential to make a representation of it, and that representation then baring enough likeness to the real thing –or my interpretation of it- for me to simply be willing to make it…
This search for control, the obsessions, the clinical and analytical observationisms that re-appear over and over again in my work has a drawback though. Ironically the more control I try to get, the more it slips away. The more effort I put in it, the less satisfied I am. But well, I can’t help myself.
What are your influences?
Many, but artists I especially like are Jeff Wall, Jason Salavon, Bill Viola, David Graham, Andreas Gursky, Edward Burtynsky, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Miroslav Tichy. As well some stuff from Dutch artists like Gerard Fieret, Erwin Olaf, Rineke Dijkstra, Hans Aarsman, Morad Bouchakour, Wim Wenders. And many, many more. Obviously I’m interested in a lot more than just contemporary photography. But as I am a photographer at the end of the day I try to focus on this medium.
Why did you choose these photos?
They are a sample of my recent work. Works I made within the last year. I tried to present not only what I like to do, but also what you might like to see. They are a cross section, of my interests, my beliefs, my obsessions. ‘For your viewing pleasure’, as they say.
What does photography mean to you?
Photography is the craft of framing. The study of how to frame reality through a lens. In essence it’s nothing more than controlling light. Photography is used in so many forms these days. Advertisement, fashion, cinema, on phones, on the moon… What it comes down to for me? Creation. And as ambiguous as that sounds, it’s really like that.
Registration or the level of control over light through a lens is just the method. To truly get to the value of photography, you need to do so much more than just capture reality. You need to alter it. Mold it, transform it, use it. Never just capture it. Good photography for me is being able to control the frame in such a way it generates an angle, an original one. How you consequently use this technique, well, let’s say opinions differ on that one… But for me, I just want to explore the creative and reflective power of the medium. To be able to construct new mindsets, new insights, new identities. And maybe let you in on some of it.
Photos:
Copyright reserved by Matthijs Uivel
