Photography: Lonneke van der Palen

Lonneke van der Palen is one to watch, with her vision she shows us bright stories of her own — and in collaboration with Marije de Haan and Joline van Schagen — at a high level we adore.

Souvenir
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Memories of a journey never made.

Why buy expensive tickets, if I can achieve the same with fantasy?

Never have I been abroad. It is a desire that is growing with stealth, but currently, mainly for financial reasons, impossible. I do not know if it will ever come to that day. Still, I can make those travels, although not in person, merely by imagination. With imagination as the main ingredient, one can transpose themselve in any imaginable place or culture. Fantasy based on reality from thoughts and knowledge. For the occasion I look at the exotic, still sitting in my armchair in The Hague.

Because photography is widespread and such a commonplace, clichés are created. People in their turn make pictures to meet those clichés. The posing in stunning landscapes, sunsets, wildlife, exotic food, the indigenous population: they almost become icons. These images, shown worldwide in the media, are the source and starting point for my project. I do not registrate what the world throws at my feet, instead I reinterpret the world from my individual insight. Photography enables me to visit distant worlds and gather souvenirs of a journey that has never been made. The journey emerged merely by imagination, because the collective has been there before.

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\ untill July 9, Prinsessegracht 4 The Hague