SONJA DE RIDDER | Painted Photography

SONJA DE RIDDER | Painted Photography

“I find it fascinating that nude in painting is viewed differently from nude in Photography. While painted nudes are often about the beauty of the body, the nude in Photography emphasizes sensuality. Why is that?”
-Sonja de Ridder

Sonja de Ridder’s series of Painted Photography is her latest exploration of this theme.
She paints on a glass plate placed between the camera and the model during a photoshoot. The model reacts to the brushstroke and chooses the poses. Paint is being added or removed from the glass plate during the shoot. The end result is not being edited or modified.

“What action makes a work of photograph or a painting? And why does the viewer especially feel the need to define the artwork? Once I had an argument with a visitor at my exhibition. He didn’t believe me when I described my technique and told him the end product was a mixed media artwork.
He couldn’t accept my answer; he left angry ..” -Sonja de Ridder

Sonja is a Dutch fine art photographer who studied at the Academy of Arts as well as at the Academy of Photography. During these studies, she wanted to add a personal touch to her images as a reaction to digital Photography. Here she began her research into the personification of her Photography. While other models and photographers mainly worked on the ideal, Sonja looked for her personal imperfections. Within this research, she began to add brush strokes, varnishing, and other paint techniques to the pictures.

Sonja’s work expresses extremes differences between the two disciplines of Painting & Photography, which are usually opposites and, therefore, fascinating to feature combined, side by side. The contrast between the slow movements of the paint versus the camera’s speed. But also her personal touch of the brush versus the anonymity of the digital camera. Wondering when a photo becomes a painting and vice versa. Through classical poses and lighting, Sonja consciously seeks a comparison between those two fields and techniques.

Sonja de Ridder’s art has been featured in many galleries and international art exhibitions around the globe and at leading art fairs worldwide, including at the Florence Biennale 2021 and at the international art3f fair in Brussels. In addition, her work has been published in international magazines and photography artbooks; she was also awarded multiple photography important awards globally. Her work is represented by Sandvoort Gallery.

Read the full article in Art Market Magazine Issue #67