Puck Soetens Dutch, b. 1970

Puck Soetens lives and works in The Hague, Netherlands. In 2014 she completed her education at the Fotoacademie in Rotterdam. Her photographic exploration blurs the boundaries between painting and photography.

"In the ongoing series Portraits of a Flower and Portraits of the Sea, I aim to capture the essence and emotional power of painting and drawing through photography, where stillness and movement merge. My work seeks to portray a painterly interpretation of the familiar. I draw inspiration from Jan Mankes and other Neo-Realists.

In both series, I capture the most beautiful combinations of color and form, with the goal of inviting the viewer to pause and appreciate everything that makes nature so breathtaking.

Portraits of a Flower is an intimate exploration of the silent yet profound dialogue between flowers and their observers. Flowers have been a cherished subject for countless artists throughout history. I seek to uncover the essence and individuality of each bloom. In my photographs, I do not merely present them as objects of fleeting beauty but as subjects with their own stories and emotions.

The sea series emerged from the long walks with my dogs along the northern coast of Scheveningen. Every day there is different—sometimes hectic, sometimes deserted. The color palette shifts from day to day. I capture these changing hues and forms on (and around) the same stretch of beach. I strive for a soft layering effect in my images, as if looking at a painted surface infused with the movements of the water.

Beyond the use of color, my photography is an ongoing study of negative space, symmetry, and light. I am drawn to light whose origin remains elusive. The interplay between stillness and motion is another key focus in my work.

My images are purely photographic. They are clean and seemingly simple, yet they possess a painterly quality. I strive for harmony and tranquility within a contemporary, atmospheric realism."