“I am always looking for a poetry of tones and contrasts that invites the viewer to see only the essence of my subjects.”
—Bastiaan Woudt
In Papillon, the timeless, monumental work offered here, Bastiaan Woudt (b.1987) continues his exploration of abstraction and form in pursuit of what he calls ‘monochromatic minimalism’. The artist has captured model Tinotenda Mushore’s silhouette, wearing a striking hat by Dutch milliner Marianne Jongkind, against a plain background. ‘The picture immediately reminded me of a butterfly, hence the chosen title,’ he notes. A self-taught photographer, Woudt has developed his distinctive monochromatic style through experimentations in both in-camera and post-production techniques. Drawing inspiration from classic black-and-white photographs by 20th-century masters Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, he aims to capture the quality of analogue photography through digital means. The Dutch artist has published ten photobooks to date and has exhibited his work in cities worldwide, including Amsterdam, Paris, New York and Shanghai, since 2014. In 2022, his first solo museum exhibition Twist was held at Bergen’s Museum Kranenburgh.
