Untitled, from "Saudade"

Untitled, from “Saudade”, 2019
Series of photograms, each work unique

Each photogram in this series is made with cyanotype, a historical photo process which creates beautiful cyan-coloured prints. My point of departure for this series is purely emotional. The title “Saudade” is Portuguese and can be translated as the feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia that is supposedly characteristic of the Portuguese or Brazilian temperament. Over the year that I lived in Brazil I experienced ‘Saudade’ firsthand, when I felt happy and sad at the same time. I felt happy, kissed by the sun and surrounded by the abundance of tropical vegetation, colors and sounds. Why I felt sad at the same time is a puzzling question. One reason is that I already anticipated the loss of it all, knowing that my time in Brazil was limited, aware that life isn't endless.

The palm tree leaves have a double layered significance: they portray the connection both to tropical Brazil and to botanist Anna Atkins, the pioneer of the cyanotype technique. She placed algae directly on the cyanotype paper, creating plant-based images. For my photograms I also position the palm leaves directly on the cyanotype paper, but unlike her I'm not interested in depicting them in a manner-of-fact way. Instead I try to capture the aura of the palm trees and the longing they make me feel.