Bastiaan Woudt has enjoyed a meteoric rise to success within the world of contemporary photography. After starting his own photography practice from scratch a mere five years ago, with no experience or formal training, he has developed into a photographer with his own distinct signature style – abstract yet sharp, with a strong focus on detail.
As a student of the history of photography, learnt through devouring photobooks and visiting museums and fairs, Bastiaan Woudt has a strong preference for classic subjects, such as portraits and nudes, and we see references to illustrious periods from photography throughout his work, such as Surrealism and both the fashion and documentary photography of the 1960s and 70s. But through a sophisticated use of both camera and post-production techniques, which he has taught himself by heavily experimenting with both, he gives his own graphic and wholly contemporary twist to the classical.
Bastiaan Woudt’s work was exhibited in museums, at fairs and in galleries worldwide. In 2014 he was chosen as New Dutch Photography Talent, in 2016 he was named one of the biggest talents working today by the prestigious magazine The British Journal of Photography, furthering his position as a talent on the rise. In 2017 he won the Van Vlissingen Art Foundation Award. In 2019, his extensive monograph “Hidden” was published by Ypublishers.
“My inspiration comes from many forms of art, but in particular, the old masters of photography like Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Man Ray, Bill Brandt, all amazing minds. They nailed what it takes to make an interesting image: Dynamics, movement, imperfection, feeling. Besides photography, there are many more ways I get inspired. Paintings, the way the Dutch masters saw the light is extraordinary. I believe that in art photography, you have to create a little dream world: a unique insight into the photographer’s mind. Black and white help to differentiate from reality. I find that color is too distracting.” Bastiaan Woudt
Bastiaan Woudt
HIDDEN
29 November 2019 – 25 January 2020
BILDHALLE
Stauffacherquai 56
8004 Zürich
www.bildhalle.ch
Bastiaan Woudt Circle, 2019 Archival Pigment Print on Inova Baryta Paper 90 x 120 cm Edition of 10 & 2 AP © Bastiaan Woudt
Bastiaan Woudt Blizzard NY III, 2016 Archival Pigment Print on Inova Baryta Paper 90 x 120 cm Edition of 10 & 2 AP © Bastiaan Woudt
Bastiaan Woudt Mason, 2015 Archival Pigment Print on Inova Baryta Paper 120 x 90 cm Edition of 10 & 2 AP © Bastiaan Woudt
Bastiaan Woudt Nude Shapes, 2016 Archival Pigment Print on Inova Baryta Paper 60 x 45 cm Edition of 10 & 2 AP © Bastiaan Woudt
