Peggy Kuiper

Yes, I think some elements of my personality are visible in my work. I am for instance straightforward. I know what I want during the shoot, and it’s always well prepared. Working efficiently to maintain people’s energy during the shoot is what’s most important to me. Although I also think it’s important to have an open mind regarding the ideas the team I work with might have. I've also noticed some contradictions when I’m working: I am more open and extrovert at work, but I am more introvert and quiet (not shy) in my personal life.

Graphic design still plays an important role in my work. I often work with geometrical compositions, and the pictures I make have an ‘illustrated’ feeling. During my internship in 2009 with Dutch graphic designer Anthon Beeke I was intrigued by how he plays with photography in his designs. The photography he uses is very outspoken and playful, so he’s had a big influence on what I am doing now.

I've been photographing for 3 years now. At the beginning I was making more autonomous work, so I got signed in a great gallery, yet the style I had back then wasn’t what I really wanted to do; I was still finding my identity as a photographer. To be honest I don’t know a lot about fashion, but the clean, geographical style I’ve developed fits well in the fashion scene. My work is an escape from reality, and fashion is just merged in my images to make it more surreal, so I don't see myself as a fashion photographer. The first fashion assignment I got was for a Dutch magazine, and it was the first time I worked with fashion items (which were already chosen, and quite ugly as I can recall). So that was a big challenge for me: to make something out of it. It was also the first time I worked with a team, and things were so much easier. I used to make solely portraits, and I would do everything myself. So the first assignment was also an encounter with a team.

I really love Vivianne Sassen. She is a big inspiration. She really has her own style and that is the reason why people want to work with her; you can recognize it immediately.

I’m living in Amsterdam and, sometimes, I work in London. I think my aesthetic is not Dutch at all; it’s too edgy for the Dutch way. That’s the reason why I often visit London. When I get an assignment in Amsterdam they want something outspoken, and the group of people who loves that is actually quite limited. So when clients approach me, they really let me do my own thing, which is pretty cool.

I agree! I love to seek boundaries. When is it that something is considered as fashion? For example, if you look at the picture with the puzzle you don't see a lot of clothing, but it gets a fashion credit. How far can I go? For me it’s important to move the viewer by telling a story through combining stills with portraits. The story is more important that the fashion items and, maybe, that makes me not a fashion photographer but a photographer who inserts fashion into her work. The story I come up with is the main inspiration, not the fashion items.

My work is an escape from reality so I love to alienate the character. It feels uncomfortable for the viewer. Yet, because it is shot in an aesthetic way, the viewer is often confused. This is the emotion I'm looking for. It raises questions and doubts, and makes you wonder.

I think it is important to look at the reality in a different way; in my way, maybe… It is important for me to take things out of context to see what’s going on. I've read Uncanny, the book by Freud, and that really inspired me to look at things differently. He says that, whenever you have an environment that feels comfortable and structured, you feel safe. But if you put an element that doesn’t belong to that environment, people get confused. So I create an environment that feels safe and comfortable and I add strange items or I take the picture from a different angle, which leads people to confusion. That's where imagination starts for me (and hopefully for the viewer).

What makes photography exciting for me is that you don't know where the story begins or ends, and the viewer has to use his imagination to understand what he is seeing. There isn’t a unique way to look at this story because it’s mainly the story of the viewer.