Vincent Rijs - What's behind the mask

"what's behind the mask " foto uit de serie escape, druk gelimiteerd op 10 met certificaat
40 x 50 cm Art Paper Epson Luster


Vincent Rijs followed various photography courses: Fotovakschool, Fotogram, the Masters Portrait course at the ImageLab and analogue photographic image processes Huis Marseille in Amsterdam.
Until October 1, 2010, he was affiliated with the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Academy of Art in Amsterdam and then established himself as an autonomous photographer. In recent years Vincent has had solo exhibitions in several Amsterdam galleries, a joint exhibition in Arti et Amicitae and his portfolio is represented in Vogue Italia, among others. Many works in privé collections


“A locked paradise, the lost wings (innocence?) Are often recurring motifs
in my photographic work.


Reflection and mirroring are the motifs in Vincent Rijs' photographic work. Tranquil images with a warm color palette placed in a melancholy frame, sometimes with a touch of surrealism. He finds his inspiration in the dramatic chiaroscuro of the painters of the Golden Age, Caravaggio, Rembrandt. He himself says: “I want to paint with the lens”.
His compositions seem carefully directed, the characters in the picture seem to act in their scenes, but they are not. The choreography arises quite spontaneously. The beautiful, mystical atmosphere he evokes is somewhat uncertain. Vincent uses his photography to detect whether the projected image resonates with his feeling of a certain desolation, unprotectedness. A musing, but desperate desire to see the separate components of oneself reflected in the image of the other, to make half a body whole. Curious, he looks to see if “the other” is present in the reflection and returns the affection. Do we enter a different world there that is also recognizable in a strange way?