Luc ten Klooster (born in Middelburg, the Netherlands in 1953)
is descended from a family of artists. His grandfather was a painter and graphic artist, his father a sculptor.
He developed his interest in photography at a very young age when he received his first camera, an Agfa-Clack. Thirty years later, a few of his first pictures are included in the series "Memories". Originally he opted for a career as a pianist. Around 2000 he felt the need more and more to express himself through visual art and photography came into the picture.
Luc ten Klooster does not wish to bind himself to one specialisation or style, preferring rather to approach a range of different subjects.
He sees himself more as a graphical artist than as a photographer and experiments with different techniques. He likes to make a series of photographs, in this way he is able to tell a story.
From the photo series "Chained", nudes begin to constitute an important part of his work, but perhaps in reality it is the essence of human being that fascinates him. Not so much in the journalistic sense, but more from an artistic (studio) portrait viewpoint, sometimes his work is very serious, sometimes it is with a nod and a wink.
In his own work, both in the choice of subject and technique employed, history often plays a significant part; some photographs seem to have originated from days long gone. The techniques he uses are far from antiquated, however. He does not use gum prints for example, but for black and white photography uses the still available silver gelatin baryta paper.
In the transition between analogue and digital photography, Luc ten Klooster chooses to go his own way in his passion for experimentation: while most photographers digitalize their analogue work, he at times transforms his digital manipulated images back into the old fashioned dark room baryta print, a baryta print which through transformation acquires a unique character.
From 2000: many solo exhibitions all over the country, portfolio publications in the Dutch magazine Focus, the Greek photo magazins PhotoNet and Photo Book and the Spanish magazine La Fotografia Aktual/Digital.
In 2007 he published his first book "SHE, a photo-essay" (ISBN 9789081200110)
Contact: photography@luctenklooster.com www.luctenklooster.com
Vincitore del Grand Prix dal Premio Primavera 2010 è membro della giuria on line.
