Portrait: Honorable Mention 2023 (professional)
Thrown against the sky like a White Crane by David Degelin (Belgium)
ENTRY DESCRIPTION
Portrait of Naomi, a Belgian woman, dressed in a traditional handmade Japanese spring kimono. Inspired by Japanese notions of reflection and movement, the idea was to create a still-life portrait with a reflection in the gentle movement of a water surface. Her pose generates a very specific fold in the kimono on her left shoulder, in which the white pattern of the kimono emanates the silhouette of a white crane, the symbol of grace and beauty.
AUTHOR
Growing up with a film director as dad, camera's, images, films, were just part of my daily life and being exposed to various forms of image processing during my childhood helped me to develop my visual sense early on. At university I graduated in archaeology and in addition I studied cultural and social anthropology. Through my photographic work I found a way to express my passion for people and culture, in portraits and street photography.
As I really seek to portray people as much as possible in a spontaneous and natural way, I prefer working in the living environment of the people I photograph. Once everything is set up for the shoot, I take time to talk and listen to people and when I sense that people are at ease with my presence, I start taking photo's.
As with portraits I really love street photography as for me it is all about capturing whatever happens in front of my lens, the spontanity and coincidence of life in the streets. I strive to improve and change my approach to photography every single day, challenging myself to express what I care about in an authentic way.
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