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Esmee van Zeeventer (1997) explores the boundaries of photography, both in the material properties of the medium and in the power of images to shape our perception. Her work functions first and foremost as a personal instrument – a way of constructing her own narrative from the fragmented remnants of her youth. Van Zeeventer is particularly fascinated by perception and the (un)reliability of memory: how do memories become distorted?
Having moved frequently throughout her life, Van Zeeventer’s memories of home feel indeterminate – fragmented and unreliable. She uses photography to investigate how the unstable truth of a captured moment relates to lived time. By employing analogue techniques that require careful execution, the artist engages with the material’s resistance and foregrounds the fragility of memory within the photographic image. ‘I consciously allow chance into the development process, so that this fragility can surface,’ she explains.
The work À Rebours (2025) offers both a sense of anchoring and room for doubt. By questioning the interval between a moment and its fixation, Van Zeeventer creates a personal space in which time becomes less visible and less linear. The resulting image resists full interpretation, instead evoking a longing for something just beyond reach. ‘I want there to be a world that cannot always be defined, but that makes me yearn for that intangible place.’
Written by Kelly-ann van Steveninck