Ontmoetingen

"Ontmoetingen" is a word which translates into "Meetings". But these Ontmoetingen embrace so much more for me. We meet people every day of our lives, all day long. Most of the time we ignore those we meet, and if we don't, we try to be polite yet forget whatever information we get instantly.

This project has been going on since the 1990s at least, and I hope to continue working on it until my dying days. That feels the way it should be.

What makes a meeting an "Ontmoeting"? I couldn't even verbalize it. Is there erotic attraction? Most likely, in some cases anyway. The fact that only guys end up as an Ontmoeting should say something, right? But there are guys in this series I would never dream of sleeping with....

Is there a connection in outlook, in the perception of life? At times, certainly. But there are some guys I really don't understand, no matter how hard I try.

Is it simply fun to hang out with these guys? Oh, absolutely, but there are thousands for whom I could say the same, and they would never be an Ontmoeting.

So what is it? What makes a meeting an Ontmoeting? All I can say is that I know it the minute it happens, even if that minute can wait for years before it becomes clear. But I do just know.

Once I have encountered an Ontmoeting I try to visualize that Ontmoeting. It is all about MY perception, I am afraid. I shop in classical mythology, history, art history, to find images which tell what I want to say. And here are the results. They are in random order.

The guys have to pose in the nude. Not because I am so interested in the crown jewels, which quite frequently don't even show up in the project. But I want to make "time-less" photos, and even a pair of underpants or socks connect the model to a specific era, a time in chronology. That's why, honestly.

I hope to print these on huge (4 by 6 yards?) see-through (plastic?) screens at some point, and make a light source behind them before I hang them on the wall. I like how the light comes through the images on a computer and would like to recreate that effect.

If you have any issues with nudity, do not enter this part of the website. Better still, just leave.