Equipped with her Pentax camera (6×7 medium format negatives), Berber shoots portraits, still lives and landscapes. These images are powerful and simultaneously stilled by the simplicity of their composition, their spherical colors, cuts, depth, claire-obscure, close cased shadows and overexposed segments. Her photos are pure, intimate and emotional charged.
Berber therefore chooses to shoot those situations on which one she has little grip. Through photography, she creates her own foothold to view her own life more objectively. This highly personal approach is placed directly next to her research and curiosity into “the other”, leaving a wealthy space for the viewer’s own interpretation, remainly largely unaware of what exactly occurs.
[quote_box name=””]‘Frisson; a shiver of pleasure’ is an ongoing quest for happiness, which she started in 2013. She started to ask herself the question: How do I achieve the highest state of happiness?[/quote_box]
She has focused her camera on all things affecting her personally during the past year; all the things she loves, but also what makes her vulnerable. She documented moments, feelings and memories in which these intense emotional situations were present or revolving around her. Instead of simply registering, this project became more and more like a quest. A search for her own ultimate satisfaction.
About the author:
Berber Theunissen (Otterlo, 1989) graduated cum laude from the Fotoacademie in Amsterdam in 2013. Her work has been exhibited and widely published in various online and print blogs and magazines. Subsequently, Berber’s work was selected by Foam as a part of the exhibition ‘Photo Town’ in Felix&Foam, as well as being selected for the New Dutch Photography Talent in GUP Gallery Amsterdam.
