source: ilseleenders

Ilse Leenders (1979) graduated her studies Photographic Design at The Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague, The Netherlands in 2001.

My images display a live construction of an inner, wondrous world. The scenes are inspired by reality in relation to a specific subject of research e.g. life and work of Piet Mondrian, sketches by Hokusai, the Noh and Kabuki theater and daily life while at residence in Tokyo.

After thorough research, observation and analysis the scene comes to mind. All its elements are relevant to the subject and carefully synthesized, creating a unique imagery. By bringing together different aspects in a single image, detailed narratives arise that can be percieved as movie stills or images from a comic book. When preparing a sequence, the challenge is to differentiate themes that are the focus within the subject, as can be seen in ‘Tokyo Monogatari’ and ‘Equilibrated Evolution’.

In the detailed staged scenes I bring together substantive, technical (photographic) and visual aspects of fashion, choreography, architecture and theater. When composing a scene I aim for a striking balance between its various elements. I carefully gather colors, shapes, patterns, lines, clothing, an expressive body language and the precise location in order to produce the harmonious composition in mind. An abstract, aesthetic, silent world in which man, the environment, scenery, objects, clothing and action are perfectly balanced and connected.

Despite the perfectly thought out balance in the image, there is the unforeseen, the unexpected and the unpredictable. The open character of the theatrical and stimulating photographic narrative gives room to the viewers’ own imagination.