Ambiguity

Ambiguity is a series of street photography, taken in Rotterdam. The photos are black and white, and this stylistic choice is connected to the message i am attempting to convey in the work.

Very much inspired through the texts i read on coloniality/decoloniality in a previous seminar- I draw a connection between colonialism and totalitarianism and am focused on understanding and fighting back against the removal of meaning that runs rampant today. With totalitarian governments and societies, Both try to impose ideology over people, taking away their individual identity, we see humans be reduced to 'the same', This frustrates, angers but also inspires me to make works that explore and challenge this, as seen in this series.

The timing of a strong fog in the city was a major accelerator for me to grab my camera and hit the streets. The fog has a sort of magical and almost intimidating effect, in my opinion it can be read as violence, and it also tends to make the people it surrounds be engulfed in it, also reflecting this notion of 'the same'.

In terms of technical decisions i made while capturing these candid moments, i implemented the use of long lenses to heighten the sense of distance and disconnect. This allowed for a sort of compression of space, something adding to the overwhelming feel of the fog, and the city and it's size- something that was repeatedly on showcase through the use of vertical/portrait format, often highlighting large buildings, light poles, structures etc.

I felt free as a creator while making this series. The documentary, street approach allowed my possibilites that are not always available in my practice where i am often working in controlled and sometimes private portraiture sessions. I would often find a frame i enjoyed in terms of environment and would wait (sometimes long!) for a human to enter the frame and interact or add the final 'element'.

Moving forward, I am interested in continuing this approach, potentially with other mediums like film/analog something i have lots of experience with. Additionally, I would like to explore how i can also evoke other emotions and atmospheric feeling, in different climates and weather, not necessarily just with fog.