Ellen Kooi surprises us with his images, his work, exposed to Madrid to the gallery Camara dark, he appears really meticulous to us, a guarantee of the quality of his new pieces. She usually prefers children as subjects photographed, because, as she says, “they are the ones who live situations in the most crystalline way, without being contaminated by their daily life”. They are the same characters and who create narratives and speak directly to the viewer. The photographer thus finds himself in a background comparable to that of a Hollywood director.
The relationship between Ellen Kooi and the movies it is evident throughout his work. The cinematic appeal of the voyeur is now replaced by its opposite: the so-called “apart with the viewer” born with the silent film and in particular with the German expressionist filmmaker of directors like FW Murnau and later with the great Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovski. With both tools, the director actively engages the viewer in the narrative. How to "put" the viewer into the film. In the words of the artist himself:
"You can see my images as unsolved riddles, but that would be too 'logical' thinking, as if there should be an answer for everything. There is no single answer to a story. What really matters to me is that the stories I tell about the body, its strength and vulnerability, are echoed in the personal experiences of the viewer. My narratives have an open end and I present them for everyone to imagine their stories and find their answers ".
Ellen Kooi “Elements” – until May 26, 2018 – Camarascura Gallery
