Darkroom

"It might seem strange, but to create a truthful inside, look and feel, you need to blend in." My desire grew to distract myself from the outside world and become solitary with my camera. I had the urge to express this emotion through my work. The Darkroom series was born. A darkroom is a darkened room, sometimes located in a club, gay bathhouse or sex club. Here sexual activity can take place, without the eventual insecurity that could withhold the outside world. Great emphasis on the sexual experience, though also visited by people that just like to watch or enjoy the atmosphere. Together with an acquaintance I spent three hours in different darkrooms all around Belgium and the Netherlands to take notes and draw sketches. After a while and a couple of apologies later, while clarifying my objective, I almost became invisible. I've never been harassed or had to deal with awkward situations. Once I digested my external and intrinsic experience towards darkrooms, I started photographing the empty labyrint during the day. The outcome is the Darkroom series, enhancing the truthful atmosphere; the existence and non- existence of the human being in an almost organic arena. My choice for a round frame is related to the technique I've used, by woking through a round object and the so called glory holes, (holes through which men can watch or have anonymous sex). Through this way the viewer is actually peering through the hole and therefore reinforces its identification to become the voyeur, a central theme for the Darkroom.