While I was at University College Falmouth I had the privilege of meeting Medea Huisman. She is an innovative artist who truly values her personal photographic experience. I am interested in her work and this interview gave me some insight into her practice. This interview has been translated from Dutch by Adriana Verkerk.

JONATHAN CHERRY: Which contemporary photographers are influencing your practice at the moment and why?

MEDEA HUISMAN: Photographers that are currently interesting me are Sara Blokland and Koen Hauser. What these photographers have in common is their fascination for truth, reality, perceptions/observations and how we then value them and our commonly shared - but often hidden - fascination for the temporary. Other questions these artists are asking are; to what extent do images draw their identity and meaning from the context in which they are made? I am constantly asking myself the same questions of my own practice.

JC: What is it about photography that you are attracted to?

MH: What attracts me is that you can capture reality in a way that is shaped in a new, different way. I’ve noticed that I capture different things depending on my mood. I find it fascinating how my intuition is capable of capturing things. I observe and then intuitively take a photo – or does my sub conscience play the biggest part in this process? The following few lines have been written about my practice and maybe give a little more detail about my way of working:

“In her photography, Medea Huisman is driven by some kind of ‘unfocussed gratefulness for all things’. Whether it’s about people, animals, landscapes and still lives, they all catch her open, artistic spectrum. Through her curious lens she portrays themes like attachment and detachment in a fascinating way. But she also uncovers the role of humour in the unbearable lightness in our being. Many observe her work and find it slightly unreal. The observed reality on the picture seems to turn 90 degrees to then freeze in silence and astonishment. What also stands out in her work is the artistic sobriety - the power of simplicity.

JC: Talk us through briefly your most recent completed project?

MH: The latest project that I have been working on still needs to be shaped. I noticed that after all these years of taking photographs, I start to unravel pictures more and more. I am searching in nothingness; is there something if it looks like nothing?

JC: What is next in terms of a project for you?

MH: I don’t know yet. Because I work intuitively, things come to me as I make work.

JC: Within your images there always seems to be an intimacy between subject and photographer. Why do you approach photography in this manner?

MH: Photography is my way to get a better understanding of this world, things that happen in my life and the transitoriness of it. Sometimes I don’t understand it all straightaway. Looking at my own pictures starts a process of emotional realization that highly fascinates me. It needs to be intimate; otherwise it won’t get down to my heart!

The above images are taken from the series ‘My Dad’ and ‘Jetke’