www.maartenheijkamp.nl

My work as a visual artist consists of making large format photographic works by means of self built camera obscuras. In my workshop which has been converted to a camera obscura I make staged compositions. For photographing objects on location I use available structures (such as buildings, sheds or shipping containers) or I use a construction trailer converted to a camera, which I can move around with my tractor. The method enables me to give the image scale/ monumentality and to define the skin of the photograph. I can sit inside the camera and contemplate the projected image before fixing it onto paper. By exposing at nighttime and in negative I force myself to redefine the scene. There is never a 1 to 1 registration of the subject. In the past two years I developed a method to make large format ceramic reliefs using a camera obscura. Looking at the ceramic works of my father I was struck by parallels between ceramic glazes and the photographic emulsion. I decided to research transferring my photographic visual language to ceramics. This led to the development of The Photographic Hammer. An extremely volatile medium meets the timeless nature of ceramics.