Arnoud Bakker

Arnoud Bakker (b.1972) studied Photography at the AKI in Enschede and has been an independent photographer since 2000. Like an alchemist, Bakker experiments with photographic techniques, extreme exposure times and chemical methods.

He can be defined as an aesthetic romantic and is obsessed with the idea of the ideal, universal woman, but at the same time there is the abrasive idea that she does not exist. His work seems like a huge effort to create it and preserve it for eternity. Bakker makes complete series portraits and shots of female nudes, in the hope of distilling individual elements that are perfect in themselves. He places his models in a timeless environment; only the light, not the space, matters. The young women pose without discomfort in front of the old pinhole camera. They give themselves exactly as long as it takes the photosensitive paper to fix their being.