World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 455 - Geralda de Graaf
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World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 455 – Geralda de Graaf
The ArtWorks foundation (KunstWerkt stichting) organized an exhibition at the Art Center Schiedam under the title New Impulse. I saw beautiful photography by Geralda de Graaf there. Color photos, with reflections from her series ‘Palette’. She was present herself and I immediately made an appointment.
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A week or two later I speak to her in Cafe Floor on Rotterdam’s Schouwburgplein. Geralda mainly does street photography, as well as travel photography and free work, she says. “I often come up with a concept for the latter. I also make narrative photo essays to accompany a poem.”
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All kinds of things happen on the street
Her photography once started indoors, with lamps and portraits. She also did staged photography, ‘pop-up photography’, where she came up with a story and took photos to go with it. But she soon discovered the street. “There are many options on the street. There is always natural light. You try to get the right image at the right time. Lots of things are happening. That inspires me. I try to capture things that someone else doesn’t see.”
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Sometimes she stays in one place. “You can make an unexpected ‘direct hit’ this way. But you have to pay attention. In the Netherlands, street photography is not always safe. Sometimes you get curses thrown at you. Sometimes – especially when I portray someone in large detail – I ask permission. Things are easier abroad.”
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Reflection
She works a lot with reflection. For example, a photo of someone wearing a hat or umbrella reflected in a window with the city in the background.” It helps if the sun is shining and there are shop windows or buildings with a lot of glass. But even if it has rained and the windows are fogged up, there are options. It is always a photo in one-shot. “I get inspiration from films. That’s why I watch a lot of old movies and I like to go to Mediterranean countries, where there are a lot of people on the streets. And there are also older people who are dressed like they used to be, which evokes a nostalgic feeling.”
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Geralda travels a lot, not only to Mediterranean countries. “I’ve been an adventurer all my life. Besides the Mediterranean countries, I have been to the Middle East, Asia (Japan), America (New York) and South America. Actually the whole world.”
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The Park around the Euromast
During the corona period (2021) she went to The Park around the Euromast and took photos of the park and the people in the park. “I asked people why they went to the park and why the park was important to them. I made a project out of that. I have received a subsidy from the Droom en Daad Foundation.” The photos were hung on billboards in the park. On one side of the billboard a black and white digital photo and on the other side an analogue color photo. A Photo Zine has been published with the historical perspective of the park and with statements from Rotterdam residents about the park.
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Does Geralda have a key work?
She has. It is the Palette series that hangs in the Art Center. “I won an award with it, the Paris International Street Photography Award. “The photos in this series have different layers, color tones and shapes. It has a narrative character. This line runs through the entire series.”
She has photographed a lot in black and white. “But lately more color. Black and white is graphic, so I pay extra attention to the shape. I like to photograph people so that you can see how people relate to the environment. Only architectural photography quickly becomes too boring, for me people have to be in it.”
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How long has she been a photographer?
“From the age of 18/19. I was at the teacher training college, studying Textile Methods, with Photography as a minor and another major in Health Sciences. I also studied for Career Advisor and Organization Advisor. And I attended the Photo Academy in Rotterdam.”
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Finally, what is her philosophy?
“You don’t have to go somewhere far. You can take the most beautiful photos at home with your mobile phone. It is chasing beauty that not everyone sees automatically. Take a good look around!”
https://www.geraldadegraaf.com/https://www.instagram.com/geralda_de_graaf/?hl=nlhttps://stichtingkunstwerkt.nl/https://www.ifthenisnow.eu/nl/verhalen/geralda-de-graaf-op-straat-gebeurt-van-alles
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