Photopaper 04
Elspeth Diederix

There are moments when everyday objects suddenly lose their veil of familiarity and become abstract. The usual meaning that you give these objects is altered and for a split second you are able to see them in a different light. Elspeth Diederix is fascinated by rather ordinary things, which she brings to life — like an alchemist — with her magical eye.
Like her pictures, Elspeth is a true gem. One of the rare kind, who is not concerned with the whims and hypes of the outside world, but who is authentic and true to herself — always has been. Although a shower of buttercups or a black dust fog may seem computer-manipulated, they never are. They have been carefully sown by hand or created by using a long exposure. Although she started with painting and sculpture at the art academy, Elspeth soon realized how better suited photography was to conceiving her images. She loves creating the installations for the photographs; sewing flowers together, covering a motorcycle in pink pigment, creating a cloud from collected plastic bags. Most images take days of preparation, and some objects travel with her for months until she finds the right location. She is looking for that moment when you are suddenly overwhelmed by the invasion of objects and how they start to live a life of their own. Her amazingly poetic world seems to emanate light, very delicate and beautiful compositions. Elspeth regards her blog ‘The Studio Garden’ as an online sketchbook and has been filling it with photos taken in the back garden of her Amsterdam studio ever since 2009.
Elspeth says about her underwater images; ‘The underwater world is a fascinating and mysterious world; an unknown place where we don’t actually belong. Every time I am able to dive and breathe underwater is a miraculously inexplicable and special experience for me. You enter an atmosphere that is not related to anything you know. It is a world of shapes and textures, a world of colour. You are literally submerged in abstraction.’ – Viviane Sassen
(source: https://photopaper.world/portfolio-item/04-elspeth-diederix/)

About the Journal
PHOTOPAPER is a new kind of monographic photo publication with a continuously changing editorial team of international experts. These guest editors name photographers or photographic projects which they would like to present to an international public. PHOTOPAPER features this work in single monographic issues of 16 or 32 pages. The main idea is to make high-quality printed photographic work accessible to as many people as possible by producing the final publication at a reasonable price. Therefore, the production process is reduced to a minimum while at the same time using high-end printing technology and a nice paper. Published on a quarterly basis.
photopaper.world
(source: https://photopaper.world/about/)

About the Publisher
The Fotobookfestival Kassel is a charitable foundation that has been engaged with the artistic medium of the photobook and has presented it in all its facets, since 2008, in a festival program of international standing. The annual festival shows works by renowned artists and promotes established and emerging talents, publishers, designers, printers, curators and booksellers on an international platform. It was the first festival of its kind dedicated to the photographic book and has founded two novel book awards: The KASSEL DUMMY AWARD for the best photobook mock-up of the year has awarded emerging talents a complete photobook-production since 2010; the KASSEL PHOTOBOOK AWARD assembles the best photobooks of the previous year nominated by international experts in the field. Books entered for both awards are showcased regularly in travelling exhibitions at international festivals and photography events. These two awards are unique in their formats and have been role models for other international festivals and events.
fotobookfestival.org
(source: https://fotobookfestival.org/fotobookfestival-kassel/)