Suzanne Jongmans masterly treatment of foam and light creates timeless photographs

Photographer Suzanne Jongmans uses discarded packaging and insulation materials to create the caps, collars and dresses that shape the portraits in her serene, almost timeless photographs.  Inspired by 16th and 17th century paintings of masters like Holbein, Clouet, Vermeer and in general by paintings from Holland's Golden Age these foam sculptures, as Suzanne calls them, are in fact made of an inferior material which is often discarded after use.

"Since 2007 I’m working on the series ‘foam sculptures’, Suzanne states. The foam portraits refer to both vulnerability and impermanence, I am investigating the texture and feel of both the present and past. It appears that the artists have used photographic images, they could not yet capture. Vermeer par example is said to have used the eye of the camera Obscura to capture the light in his painting studio. 

"By using these materials I make a reference to consumerism and the rapid circulation of packaging materials. With my foam sculptures I mutate old costumes into new plastics and old masters in new photographic works. You can call it upcycled art. Like this I am creating a time crux, a tension of time. 

Suzanne Jongmans studied photography and textiles at the academy for education in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Web: Suzanne Jongmans