10 Questions with Eric Pijnaken

Growing old, he tasted what it is to feel truly alive. It helps to be more open to the world, with fewer prejudices and even more discoveries. However, he did not become a saint. Born in Rotterdam during wartime in 1942, he remembers German soldiers marching on the bridge in front of his parents' house. A German guard on a wooden stool in a tree of the garden behind the house. This formed the basis for the way he later looked to the world, especially concerning the authorities.

In his youth, he made a short movie about suffering around the statue (man with a heart ripped off) of Zadkine in the center of the bombed city of Rotterdam. Zadkine reduces the figures to their most concise and telling form. Since that time, his photo work focuses on the essentials of what he sees.

At a young age, he has been awarded for photo contests. He had a career as a journalist dealing with modern art, and later with socio-economical and political affairs, and editor of a leading daily newspaper. Later he moved to the French province Ardèche, where he could freely enjoy the photography with many exhibitions in France, and some in Holland, Greece, and Switzerland. Meanwhile, he has been rewarded several times by the Tokyo International Foto Awards and other rewards by Neutral Density Photo Awards and Minimalist Photo Awards, Fine Art Photography Awards, Monochrome Photo Awards, Spider Awards, Monovision Photography Awards, CIP Festival Winner.

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 ARTIST STATEMENT

Photography always has been, for Eric Pijnaken, a means to find his way to the world of phenomena in which he lives. He felt the need to reveal another reality within the reality surrounding us. After many years of experimenting, three of his most recent series of photographs and photocollages approach – his starting point. The first of these series, « Dancing in the Emptiness,» of which four black & white pictures of his first photocollage have been exhibited at the 2019 French international Arles festival « Les Rencontres de la Photographie» arrived close to the core of human being. That story began when he met the Portuguese photographer Paulo Nozolino in a workshop entitled: « Jusqu'à l'Os» which means « Down to the bone». Eric Pijnaken wanted to go deeper.

His question is: what has been a man before birth or after death? This question was the theme of « Dancing in the Emptiness». The series photocollages in color «This Things Say This, and This Things Don't» (a text found on a nice graffiti) followed the trail, albeit in a more playful way. And currently, Eric Pijnaken is working on a series of blue photos called « Blue Vacuity», which goes a step further. During these photographic works, he discovered to his surprise, the talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, whose book «I Am That» is the best known: «Once you know that death happens to the body and not to you, you just watch your body falling off like a discarded garment». His talks motivated him and were a great help in the composition and storytelling of the aforementioned photography projects.

INTERVIEW

First of all, why are you an artist, and when did you first decide to become one?

«Artist» is, for me, a label that one gets from outside. I have never woken up in the morning crying: Wow, fantastic that I am an artist! So it has never been a decision to be or become one. As a fourteen-year-old boy, I took photos with my Agfa Clack of cows grazing in the meadows. But after developing and printing the pictures, the images had not very much to do with living cows. Yes, people said: you have made a photo of cows. I could not deny it, but it was not cows for me. That has been the start of my photographic activities. My photos never were what had been photographed. Six years later, my sister Marja was starring for me in an 8mm film at the statue of Zadkine in the bombed city center of Rotterdam: a man raising his arms heavenward, but his heart was ripped out. In that tiny, humble movie, there was something. It was cruel, but it lived. A piece of bronze, in which I discovered life, a life that remained visible on film.

But I did not know for the moment my key issue should be: «reveal the life behind the appearances». I became aware of that after 30 years, discovering the manifesto of the Italian critic Germano Celant which in 1967 created the movement Arte Povera.

You have worked as a journalist for many years, while also experimenting with photography. How did you manage to balance your career as a journalist with your career as a photographer?

Literature and modern art had my interest from childhood. I started working for small literary magazines in the Netherlands and Belgium and journals for Dutch communities in Canada and South Africa. As I was attracted to pop art and modern art, I published special cahiers in a Belgian literary magazine about modern visual arts. So I became involved in freelance work for big magazines like Elsevier Magazine and Accent. It gave me ideas for photographic work and photos to accompany my articles. Nevertheless, I could not earn my living on a firm basis, and after my marriage, I was going to work for specialized journals in the textile and food & beverage industries.

Photographs focused on these themes. So practical, but not very artistic. I started to work at a prominent daily newspaper in the financial, economic, and social sectors and an editorialist seven years later. How did I manage to balance this career with my career as a photographer? I can tell you it has been out of balance. Indeed, I won a second prize in a national photo contest with positive slides of the Rotterdam metro under construction, but my photo work was mainly in my spare time, and I did not have time for exhibitions.

What are the main themes you pursue with your photography?

For a long time, street photography has been my passion. You can follow this on my four websites. Nearly 30 years ago, I installed myself in the South-French Ardèche. I had plenty of time developing my photography. I told you that the Arte Povera opened my eyes. Germano Celant rejected the consumer society, with its dictatorship of the big companies that turn everything into things. He wanted to go «back to the basics», and many sculptors and painters worked with raw materials, like sand, teer, rags, scrap metal, to capture the soul and origin of the phenomena. 

Some photographers have translated this starting point to non-truncated, pure. This has built a bridge to the Zadkine experience in my youth. From that moment on, I tried to eliminate all superfluous details in my pictures to reveal the origins. In France, from the beginning I had many exhibitions of street photography, still life, nature, and digital experiments (during one complete year I worked without Photoshop filters on a series called «Dirty Pictures», which had a tremendous success. It was a play, but for me «on-off», not to be repeated).

In your series «Dancing in the Emptiness», you reflect on life before and after death, with black&white photocollages. Where did you get inspiration for this series?

The story began in April 2019 during a workshop with the Portuguese photographer Paulo Nozolino, titled « Jusqu'à l'Os», which means «Down to the Bone». The assignment was to take pictures to assemble in photocollages where all elements which detract from the essential are removed. Working with my Leica M9 Monochrom, I soon felt the need to go further than the bone, which in itself is a hurdle. I like black & white photos since they go more easily to the heart of the matter, without having color photos to distract from really essential issues.

In the 14 days workshop, I finally selected four photos (from the hundreds I had taken) into one photocollage. This has been exhibited in Arles Festival of International Photography, together with the four single images.

The project was inspired by the teachings of a self-realized Yoga master, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (his most famous book is «I am That»). It was a real surprise that I discovered these texts working on my project. Due to the Covid pandemic, I cannot exhibit for the moment.

On the contrary, your series «This Words Say This, and This Words Don't» and «Blue Vacuity» are abstract-like photographs where you reintroduce the use of color. Is there a specific meaning behind the choice of using color or monochromatic photography?

Indeed it is a conscious choice. The monochromatic b&w photocollages in «Dancing in the Emptiness» unite four photos in one frame. Working in color becomes confusing for the viewer (and for me). The message is much stronger in b&w. The series «This Words Say» has been inspired by a graffiti text on a wall. It gave me a feeling of "yes, words say this or that, but what do we understand from words? Is it one ear in the other? Do we understand what is said? Does one or another understand the same thing?" It gave me a feeling of chaos, and solitude, isolation. But I did not want it to become heavy. Grafitti is playful and simultaneously serious. That's why I opted for color and collages of two photos to create contrast and playfulness. Personally, I don't find this series abstract, but perhaps that is a matter of taste. «Blue Vacuity» is a kind of successor to «Dancing». This series in progress is on purpose abstract. So abstract that the viewer can't distinguish what is real. In Buddhism, the ether is represented by the color blue. It is vacuity but at the same time source of creation. Since humans live in a world composed of phenomena, it is not easy to communicate vacuity. Most people identify with their body and personality, which blocks access to vacuity. The series tries to give a translation, from nothing to the spirit-thing, which the spectator, in turn, could transform into vacuity. The blue, monochromatic images flow from vacuity, and the creator is vacuity either.

What is your creative process like? And how did you evolve this way of working?

In my creative process, there is a prominent place for intuition. I do not «think» photos, but I do them. It's a permanent evolution in consciousness.

Is there a piece you consider a « breakthrough » in your career?

Working with other creators has always been a dream of mine. Unfortunately, most of them are individualists, not open to cooperation. Some years ago, I worked with the Paris painter Véronique Pinson. With her paintings, I made photomontages. Her work often is very subtle, graceful, etheric, and I created a strong contrast with material elements. The series is «An Amazing Invisible World». It was interesting. But she was feeling a bit out of balance. So our association ended. It is not easy, since everybody has their own creational past. And it sets boundaries.

A «breakthrough» for me is the series «Dancing in the Emptiness» for it answers the most to my inner development.

What do you think about the art community and market? And how did your perception change over the last year due to the pandemic?

There are many people with different insights. No individual is the same. There are clusters of people that more or less think along the same lines. The market is a mosaic of vibrant colors, from popular to niche market. What I see is that in the digital area, there is a trend to present spectacular photos. It is like «art photos» mingle with images in commercials. The invention of the smartphone leads to an incredible wave of billions of photos every year. It is something of an addiction, where only quantity counts, not quality. In a sense, this distorts the markets, which follow the taste of the masses. But fortunately, some providers reward and propose excellent photos for fine art, nature, portrait, still life, street, etc. 

The pandemic is probably based on lies, but the governments and mass media under the spell of Big Data, Big Pharma etc. (see the book of Shoshana Zuboff "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism") lead to confinement. There are limited mobility and other restrictions in France, which are a significant handicap to take pictures. As a member of the club of international photographers obliged to publish one photo per day on Une Photo par Jour.org in Geneva, I am used to engaging my creativity in a limited space. But it remains boring. However, regarding photo contests on the internet, I think many photographers still find an outlet.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?

Now I am working on the series « Blue Vacuity». I don't know how long it takes. It is a seed that has to grow to maturity. You cannot force it. When I work on a project, I do not plan for the future. The future comes naturally. I have created awarded projects on politics, environmental problems, but I do not repeat these subjects. They always will exist. Only the colors will change. For me, it not any longer a challenge since the overall theme is corruption. So after «Blue Vacuity» I have no idea what will emerge.

And lastly, what is one piece of advice you would give to an emerging artist?

Haha, who am I to give advice? Be yourself, love yourself. In my photo work, I hope humor, compassion and empathy are shining through. Photography should be fun, joy. It will be helpful for an emerging photographer to attend some workshops, study photobooks by famous photographers, and feel what one likes to capture in images and how. I often struggle with my cameras, as did Diane Arbus. They have their own character and do not always do what I like them to do. I appreciate cameras from Pentax and Leica constructed by real photographers. I have too many problems with Sony, and Fujifilm I do not have enough experience. Also I dislike Canon and Nikon. They lack sensitivity. Definitely, it is very personal. Everyone has to look for the equipment that suits him. But begin with a simple camera quietly experimenting in your surroundings and find out if you want to be(come) a photographer and tell your story.