honorable mention
Mo Verlaan netherlands
title
Undercurrent
Photographing was my way of coping, finding images that could visualize my deepest fears. Creating Self-Portraits and cleared my head. Being in nature gave me strength. Especially the landscape in the far northern part of The Netherlands bordering the Wadden Sea (Unesco World Heritage), where the land is harsh and empty and misty tidal movements determine the rhythm of life. That place felt like a translation of my inner space. It became a search for a new point of view, the subtle shifting of perspectives.
Additionally, I could draw another parallel: we undermine the resources of our bodies and land, we neglect and exhaust it, we ignore all the signs until it breaks, burns, storms, shakes, submerges. Only then do we intervene. Only then we start to think of the consequences and are able to really change.
Working completely analogue, with its slow and pure character, pointed the way. Not having the option of reviewing my work until I developed it brought me in the now. The tranquil process of printing in the darkroom became soothing and brought peace.
She studied for a year at Atelier Smedsby in Paris and attended masterclasses in analogue photography with Dirk Braeckman, Anders Petersen, Machiel Botman and Leo Divendal. Lately she has been studying several old alternative photographic techniques.
Very recently she was awarded with the 2nd prize single image Nude at the 16th JM Cameron Award in 2021. The series Undercurrent was Winner of The Photo Award at The Mt. Rokko International Photography Festival 2019 in Kobe, she was Finalist at the Hariban Award and Winner single image at the 9th JM Cameron Award in 2016. She was awarded with several Honorable Mentions in the past years (Minimalist Photography Awards 2019, IPA 2017 & 2018, TIPA, Monovision, FAPA, 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th JMCA).
Mo Verlaan participated in exhibitions in The Netherlands and abroad, her work has been shown in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Amersfoort, Den Helder, Groningen, London, Berlin, Athens, Arles, Barcelona, Budapest, Los Angeles, Hudson NY, Kobe and Hyderabad.
Her work was published in Thinking About Photography #Time, The F-Stop Magazine #106, the All About Photo Magazine #1 and in the NEW 2017, 100 New Dutch Photography Talents, by GUP.
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entry description
This series started end of October 2018 as a reaction to the fact that my wife had been diagnosed with cancer. In a single moment our lives were changed, our minds in a muddle, invaded by a thick layer of fog. Our horizon kept shifting and nearly seemed to have collapsed. The unreal uncertainty of losing your loved one felt like walking on very thin ice.Photographing was my way of coping, finding images that could visualize my deepest fears. Creating Self-Portraits and cleared my head. Being in nature gave me strength. Especially the landscape in the far northern part of The Netherlands bordering the Wadden Sea (Unesco World Heritage), where the land is harsh and empty and misty tidal movements determine the rhythm of life. That place felt like a translation of my inner space. It became a search for a new point of view, the subtle shifting of perspectives.
Additionally, I could draw another parallel: we undermine the resources of our bodies and land, we neglect and exhaust it, we ignore all the signs until it breaks, burns, storms, shakes, submerges. Only then do we intervene. Only then we start to think of the consequences and are able to really change.
Working completely analogue, with its slow and pure character, pointed the way. Not having the option of reviewing my work until I developed it brought me in the now. The tranquil process of printing in the darkroom became soothing and brought peace.
about the photographer
After graduating from the Rietveld Art Academy, Mo Verlaan (1963) started out in experimental theatre, creating sets on location as well as performing. Her love for travelling and cooking made Mo found the company De Drie Gezusters catering to (inter)national filmcrews from a converted truck. A growing passion for photography made her enter the Photo Academy. She graduated in 2016 with a joint exhibition and her first book Resonance was launched, in which she explored the impermanence of light, the brief and fleeting beauty of landscapes, architecture and people.She studied for a year at Atelier Smedsby in Paris and attended masterclasses in analogue photography with Dirk Braeckman, Anders Petersen, Machiel Botman and Leo Divendal. Lately she has been studying several old alternative photographic techniques.
Very recently she was awarded with the 2nd prize single image Nude at the 16th JM Cameron Award in 2021. The series Undercurrent was Winner of The Photo Award at The Mt. Rokko International Photography Festival 2019 in Kobe, she was Finalist at the Hariban Award and Winner single image at the 9th JM Cameron Award in 2016. She was awarded with several Honorable Mentions in the past years (Minimalist Photography Awards 2019, IPA 2017 & 2018, TIPA, Monovision, FAPA, 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th JMCA).
Mo Verlaan participated in exhibitions in The Netherlands and abroad, her work has been shown in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Amersfoort, Den Helder, Groningen, London, Berlin, Athens, Arles, Barcelona, Budapest, Los Angeles, Hudson NY, Kobe and Hyderabad.
Her work was published in Thinking About Photography #Time, The F-Stop Magazine #106, the All About Photo Magazine #1 and in the NEW 2017, 100 New Dutch Photography Talents, by GUP.
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