Dutch photographer Ruud van Empel (b. 1958) invites viewers to see the world anew, blurring the line between reality and illusion. His images, saturated with vivid color and intricate detail, create an almost surreal experience—scenes that feel both familiar and entirely imagined.
Van Empel’s process is meticulous and time-intensive, often taking hundreds or even thousands of hours to complete a single image. Using a digital collage technique he has refined since the mid-1990s, he assembles fragments of his own photographs to construct compositions that exist outside traditional photography. These layered, hyper-detailed landscapes celebrate the beauty of nature while also reflecting its tensions, as elements compete for space and attention.
While Van Empel is best known for his portraits of children set within lush environments, this exhibition shifts focus to the landscapes themselves. Drawing from source images captured during his travels—from botanical gardens in the Netherlands to California’s Joshua Tree National Park—he presents both daylight and nocturnal scenes that feel dreamlike yet tangible. These constructed worlds challenge perceptions of photography’s role in truth-telling, encouraging viewers to step inside and explore a realm of wonder, memory, and mystery.
Image: Ruud van Empel, Theatre #8 (detail), 2013. Archival pigment print. Gift of the artist in honor of Deborah Klochko. © Ruud van Empel
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