Green is Ruud van Empel’s colour. This Dutch artist has been creating photocollages for many a year, starting out by cutting and pasting and eventually using the computer as a paintbrush and lens. Van Empel’s work has a painterly quality about it, especially when the lush backgrounds mix with softer tones, producing a surreal effect, yet the final product is a photograph. Van Empel’s most recent series depict children set among green forests and tropical backdrops. The children will be familiar as they are of a type: the posed adult-child with a knowing look in his or her eye – but what makes the photos magical are the layers of van Empel-made nature that surround them.

Artist: Ruud van Empel
+ ruudvanempel.nl

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