THIRD PLACE: Cas Slagboom 'SCALED LANDSCAPE'
N.Y. Photo Curator: Global Photography Awards- 'Where Photography & Philanthropy Meet' THIRD PLACE: Cas Slagboom 'SCALED LANDSCAPE'
SCALED LANDSCAPE by Cas Slagboom
THIRD PLACE

Cas Slagboom says, "I seek beauty in the way in which the combination of different images evoke an experience.

For me, photography is more than capturing the perfect moment. Every time I try to capture my astonishment with a single photo, I am disappointed. This was not what I want to see and feel. It is larger, more complex, more diffuse. I have to bring all those fragments together.

In compositions in which they together tell a story that transcends my understanding. So, that every time I look at it, I can be surprised again.

All the photographic technology that we have to capture our world in images may give us the idea that we really "see" it. But nothing gives me more liberty than letting go of this straight way of observing, in order to experience the shortest route to wonder, and the love that follows from it. I use modern technology to find a visual language that exceeds the photographic moment, so that there is sufficient room for the complexity of what we call reality. 

HABITAT is a photographic essay of composite artworks, an ongoing research committed to the delicate balance between human beings and their natural environment. I wonder what place we occupy in this complex and amazing ecological system, and whether we are able to do it in such a way that we don’t make our presence impossible.

Each image is composed of dozens of photos, creating a new reality. As a spectator you feel that something is happening that you are not used to, which is actually not right, an almost incredible staging. And so I compose a new moment that may be closer to the desired reality than we experience in the here and now.

We live on this planet, but we don't really know how to do it. There is also no clear answer. As an artist / photographer I want to artfully visualize our human desires and dilemmas and encourage us to reflect on our role in the complex ecosystem on which we depend.

I think the image we form of reality is only part of the story. It is always from the human perspective, and the accompanying idea that we have a responsibility that may be greater than we can bear. Of course it is impossible for me as a person to escape from that perspective. 

Still, I want to make an effort, because I think curiosity about the unknown is an essential source of inspiration. I don't have to go far to find that unknown, I just have to shake the world I know. With the rearranged images that this yield, I try to show the magic of the world in which we live.

Either way, this world is the most bizarre, creative and inspiring experience I will know as a human. As an Alice in Wonderland, we all walk around in an environment that we may want to understand but cannot understand. It is too complex for that. I don't think the goal is to be able to analyze and control everything.

That would be an arrogant endeavor in my view. However, anticipation is something we can do well, and it has been the success formula of the human species so far. This requires knowledge, but also awareness. The awareness that our environment is not a utensil but an essential part of ourselves, and the realization that we are not the most  important factor in this, but only part of a fascinating system, can ensure that we apply our knowledge with other insights.

I think this realization and the action that comes from it is our only chance of survival. The great thing is that we have the right properties. And we also have the technology needed to share that consciousness like never before."
 
Cas Slagboom was born in Vlissingen, Netherlands. As a child he learned the analogue photography process in his father's darkroom, an on-going learning process, a drive to be able to manipulate the technology to tell a story.

Before he started as an artist, he spent years in the wild as a mountaineer. In search of a confrontation with life and wondering about the strength and the urge to survive, he started drawing. The fascination for the relationship we have with nature as a complex and amazing ecosystem arose with his never-ending curiosity and to share his view with others.

After many wanderings through the wild, he started at the St. Joost school of Art & Design in Breda in Design & Fine Art. Afterwards he mainly focused on visual communication, fascinated with the possibilities of interaction. 

As Creative Director he seized even more opportunities to further specialize himself with the digital technical developments.

In 2002, he started Motion Works with his wife in a joint ambition to use images to tell stories. They realized projects and "social art" like We come Closer to build bridges somehow and focused on narrative and impact. As a result, Cas returned to the image making itself, almost like a painter.

Nature, and in particular our relationship with it, always had a prominent place in his work. It is a deeply rooted realization of being part of something infinitely versatile and great.

WORK  &  Projects-

1996        Zeelandnet - Creative Director & New Business Development.
2002        Self-employed - Motion Works VoF
Social Art | Interactieve projecten | Documentaires | Design | visuele media | Beeldbox: Art for Businesses |
2016        Fine Art | Photo - HABITAT | Portfolio | Visual Research | Photography |
2018        We Come Closer - Social Art & Exposition

ART & PHOTO PROJECTS-

2016        Ruimte voor elkaar – Beeldend onderzoek & Expositie 
2015/16  Verhalen van de Jonge Dame - Social Art + Expositie | Impact project
2015        Danspaleis – Photo Doc. online | Photo + audio
2015        Portret van Zuilen - Social Art | staged Portrait
2015        De waarde van warmte - Social Art Doc | Photography | 
2014        Thoughts on Nature - naturalcapitalcoalition | World Summit Copenhagen

OTHER MEDIA-

2012/13  I Used to Dance - Short documentary [nominated Gouden Kalf, NFF]
2009-13   Whatifwechange – interactive platform over biodiversiteit, ecosysteemherstel, natuur | IUCN + Postcodeloterij


AWARDS & CREDITS-

2021        Fotofestival Schiedam ‘21– RETURN FROM PARADISE - Transitions II - Return from Paradise
2021 GOLD Winner - Fine Art - Collage - Moscow International Foto Awards [MIFA]
2021 Published Bruxelles Art Vue in Human Body in art - As I remember
2021 SIENA INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE AWARDS – Finalist


IMAGE FOR SALE-

SCALED LANDSCAPE - 29x70 cm Hypercollage - Fine Art Paper & pigmented print - Unframed - Limited edition of 15 - Signed on back - $350


www.casslagboom.nl
www.instagram.com/casslagboom
www.linkedin.com/in/casslagboom
www.facebook.com/CasSlagboomFotograaf

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