The Dutch photographer captivates with his minimalist, elegant, and vaporous monochrome compositions, which flirt with the abstract and the surreal.

Bastiaan Woudt has made a breakthrough in the world of art and photography in just ten years. With no formal training, the 35-year-old Dutch native learned on the job and chose to experiment, like a return to the roots of avant-garde photographers, feeding off books, exhibitions, and art fairs. As a result, his photographs have not failed to attract attention. He was named New Dutch Photographic Talent in 2015, has exhibited all over the world, won several awards, and quickly attracted prestigious gallery owners. Like Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles, which he recently joined to represent him exclusively on the West Coast of the United States and from which a first solo exhibition will follow in February 2023. Bastiaan Woudt has that recognizable visual style. His emotional portraits, mystical landscapes on the African continent, expedition to the mountains of Nepal, and nudes bathed in an artistic blur capture and transcend this “monochromatic minimalism.”

Reinterpreting the traditional

The artist believes that color only distracts the viewer. His mastery of black and white thus pays particular attention to detail, playing with shapes, textures, light, and shadows. His signature craftsmanship exudes a poetry of tones and contrasts that invites us “to see only the essence of his subjects.” Bastiaan Woudt draws his inspiration from surrealism and silver photography of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, while exploiting the multiple possibilities of modern techniques. We also find influences from Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, which he claims himself. He also carried out editorial commissions for Vogue British, Harper’s Bazaar, New York Magazine, Numéro, and l’Officiel. His work and his intuition constantly guide his imagery. “His digital images are rooted in the study of traditional 20th-century photographic practices,” Fahey/Klein Gallery points out. “This quest to explore and develop classical imagery has led him down a path of continual discovery, resulting in photographic beauty that surprises and reinforces tradition.”

http://www.faheykleingallery.com/

https://www.bastiaanwoudt.com/

Nathalie Dassa