The first thing that strikes you when you look through Neeltje de Vries' work is that it features only women. The second is the slight discomfort that emanates from every image. The Amsterdam-based photographer deals with the sensuality of the female body in a very unpolished way. There is a certain unease in every photo, fueled by a particular pose, framing, or choice of color. It is often aesthetic, but also raw and mysterious. The women appear powerful and vulnerable at the same time. They are tangible, yet there is a palpable distance. This is due to the way limbs take on lines and shapes, or body parts and facial expressions are concealed. “There are indeed many contradictions in my work,” explains de Vries. "Photography doesn't always have to be easy. A woman's body is beautiful. But just showing the aesthetic quickly becomes boring. It doesn't touch you. I want to intrigue people and make them think. As a viewer, you keep wondering who the woman in the photo is. What her story is. Every image could just as easily be a film still. That's what makes it so fascinating to me. I would never just put someone in front of the camera. An image always starts in my head first. It is often based on what is happening around me. Everyday situations, discoveries, encounters, travels. It can be small things that inspire me. Sometimes I walk down the street and see an object or material that appeals to me: an armchair, a garbage bag, a bubble blower. I take it in and imagine a woman with it. How she might move on or around that chair. How I could have her blow bubbles. It's all very intuitive. Only when I have a clear feeling do I start looking for the right woman to translate it.


Photography as an extension

The models Neeltje de Vries works with are usually not professionals, but women she knows or happens to bump into. On the street, in a shop, at a restaurant or café. The remarkable thing is that they all resemble her in some way. De Vries' photos are partly self-portraits, in which she reveals a little bit of herself each time. “Actually, I've always done that, even when I was a young girl drawing female figures,” she says. "Those were always idealized images of myself. It's the same with my photography. The images I shoot are an extension of who I am. All those women resemble me in some way. I use their bodies to translate something that lives inside me. How I experience being a woman. I find it difficult to put myself in a man's shoes. Perhaps because I never really felt safe with men. But also because I don't know what it's like to move as a man. I need to be able to experience for myself how a certain space or pose feels. That's only possible with women. By having them pose naked or half-naked, you also get more body language. You show the vulnerability of the skin. You can play with limbs. Arms, legs, hands play a big role in my work. You can put so much emotion into a certain posture.


MONSOON

MOYA


If you want to discover Neeltje de Vries' work in person, you don't have to look far. Until the end of April, she can be admired at the Museum Of Young Arts in Oosterhout, not far from Breda. Hall 2 of the museum provides a stage for various artists. De Vries is presenting twelve works there that beautifully showcase her unpolished visual style. “In fact, I don't really work in series or according to certain rules. It's only later that I realize that different photos belong together. The exhibition at the MOYA is a beautiful synthesis of how my work has evolved to date. It has become a little more abstract, yet there is also a lot of spontaneity in it. I certainly hope that people experience it that way,” she smiles.

GUM
COCOON

_Text: Bart De Maarschalk


https://bo-magazine.be/2022/kunst/neeltje-de-vries/

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