People play an important part in my work. It’s not a necessity that they are in it. But they are 99% the starting point of my projects. Little encounters, stories that I hear or are have been told tend to catch my attention. This starts my curiosity to investigate. Stories that are far away from my every day life, that seem stranger than fiction.
In a way I use photography to escape my own mundane and pre-designed life. Where I don’t have to think about paying the rent or forgetting to buy cat food. Maybe it has to do with the second thing I truly love; literature.
Reading stories by Tom Wolfe or Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote and so on, who were part of the ‘New Journalism’. A style of news writing journalism which was developed in the 1960’s – 70’s. The literary style is characterized by a subjective perspective and emphasizes ‘truth’ over ‘facts’. In contrast to my book hero’s I tend to keep myself invisible, but I do immerse myself within the stories and build up a bond with my subjects. It’s personal nature and the significance of involvement. Not that I don’t believe in objective accuracy, but I think the influence of feelings is hard to ignore. Especially working together with people on long-term projects.
This is my escapism, and maybe the fil rouge of my work is opening a dialogue with people who in a way are escaping their daily routine also.
And gazing at the titles I have at home, this is what also attracts me to certain photo books. Those that blur the borders between documentary and conceptual practices and who are stepping outside of the traditional photojournalistic gaze.

For this blog post I choose to show the work of Yann Gross with The Jungle Book. My favorite discovery from last years Les Recontres d’Arles. After winning the 2015 Dummy Book Award Arles, Gross was granted the production of his book. My first encounter with the project was the exhibition created at the festival dubbed in the title the ‘Jungle Show’. Looking back at my Instagram post from July 6th last year I wrote down “Beautiful constructed exhibition /installation of Yann Gross with the Jungle Show. These blocks are only a small part of the space which guides you on the trip Yann took along the Amazon river. Exiting the work through the Jungle to end up again in the concrete jungle of reality.”
I called it an installation since the exhibition was presented with prints in light boxes of huge wooden boxes that reminded me of the boxes they used to use on ships. Carrying exotic treasures from far away, that only Rudyard Kipling could describe.
This goes hand in hand with the design of the publication of the project ‘The Jungle Book’. A green linen cover with golden letters imprinted, the side of the paper printed in gold. This reminding me of Kipling’s own classic Jungle Book, the appearance is striking; the cover using big fonts as seen in the classic children’s book. This project shows the life of a contemporary Amazonian. Gross’s Jungle Book takes you up the river following the footsteps of expeditions from the past.