Bastiaan Woudt (1987) began photographing after the birth of his eldest son in 2009. He bought a camera to capture his son’s world and discovered he had a taste for the medium. Bastiaan tinkered with his technique by experimenting, taking on commercial jobs for magazines and photographing interiors. Thus, he developed a passion for photography without a formal education in the artform. He created his own distinctive style, adding a twist to his portraits, landscapes, still lifes and nudes. He reworks these images into abstract pieces in his studio. Monochromatic minimalism is the signature of Bastiaan’s works.
“If you look too hard, you won't find the solution. Therefore, I don't plan too far ahead. Step by step, I eventually reach my goals."
Bastiaan draws inspiration from photography of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. In addition to the signature raw nature of his work, Bastiaan is known for capturing monochromatic minimalism while experimenting with modern techniques. Bastiaan’s works are elegant, contain a touch of surrealism and, simultaneously, play with the beauty of imperfection.
Bastiaan never has a clear, preconceived plan for his projects. He steers his process by navigating on his gut-feeling. You rarely find mood boards in his studio. The atmosphere and recognizability reflected are the main focus of his photographs, so that theme does not necessarily play the most important role. In addition to portraits and minimalist nudes, he captures landscapes during his travels. His images are distinguished by their high-caliber and artistic qualities. Bastiaan photographs digitally and edits his photos to create the desired image. Therefore, he is not strictly a portrait or landscape photographer. His work is always recognizable as “areal Bastiaan Woudt.”
The choice for his inspiration trip was quickly made: he wanted to go to Morocco. A land of languid heat, rising landscapes and adaptive people. Bastiaan aimed to capture the country and people in a combination of portraits, landscapes and still lifes. In September of 2016, Bastiaan, along with friend Jelmar van Belle, traveled across Morocco for two weeks in search of inspiration for Bastiaan’s exhibition and book. During his trip, Bastiaan worked on still lifes, studio sessions with models of Moroccan origin and landscapes.
It was a special trip that led from Marrakesh through the Middle and High Atlas to the south and the awaiting desert. Morocco left a big impression on Bastiaan. The people he and Jelmar encountered were friendly and hospitable. While traveling through Morocco, Bastiaan strove to capture the local culture. Back in the Netherlands, Woudt translated his experiences, and the impression they left on him, into works in his studio. This translation took the form, and process, of conveying a color-filled world through the lens of his signature colors of black, white and gray.
