Aardenburg & De Vries: BEAUTY OF REUSE
Sustainable photography
Aardenburg & De Vries: BEAUTY OF REUSE
Sustainable photography
SERGI ESTELLA - 12 pack blues
Upcycled instruments one man band
Jacqueline en Rosanne are an Award winning photographic duo based in the Netherlands that creates powerful images about waste and sustainability.
With backgrounds in styling, design and commercial imagery, their work combines realistic and dreamy and surreal elements. The duo creates playful and dynamic compositions that build on reality with a minimum of post-production enhancement.
Tell me something about you, how did you become a photographer? When did you decide to "talk" about sustainability in your work?
We are Jacqueline Aardenburg and Rosanne de Vries and together we are photographers duo Aardenburg & De Vries. During our photography studies in Amsterdam we met and decided to continue together as partners. Jacqueline has a background as a stylist and designer. She believes that everything is possible and realizable. Rosanne has a background in corporate life. She has the drive and patience to prepare the materials needed for our images. Together we are a strong team that complement each other.
We live in a prosperous disposable society and in our images we like to show what is still possible to create with our waste. Upcycling is one of the best ways to make a positive impact on the world we live in and it's important for both the natural environment and for us. We have to act quickly because the amount of waste we create is increasing.
We create the settings for our photos ourselves. Our images always have some absurdness or unrealness to it.
We are always looking for fresh images and we work with materials in a way that have never been seen before.
We use Photoshop only to strengthen the image, not to manipulate it. So, what you see is real.
What's the message behind your pictures?
In our photo series 'Beauty of Reuse' we photographed the top 10 most important recyclable materials in an artistic way. With this photo series we’ve transformed waste into sustainable art.
People strive for progress, but lose sight of the fact that this behavior cause new problems, especially regarding the environment. Think of all the plastic packaging materials that eventually ends up in the sea. All the plastic that you have used in your life is still present on earth in some form or another.
That is why we have made a photo series about these plastic packaging materials: Plastic vs Human.
Our message: time is running out, plastic is a major problem for our planet and our future. Don't let these images become a reality! (see the photo series Plastic vs Human on our website).
Why do you think up cycling is important?
Because for example all the plastic that we've used in our life is still present on earth in some form or another. We need to change the way we use products in order to live in a better future!
How can quarantine during COVID 19 be a good moment for becoming more conscious and sustainable?
It's time to step out of our daily routine and look at the world around us in a new way. Now is a good time to refresh our routine because everything has changed so why not starting something good?
What's the creative upcyling process behind the pictures of 'the beauty of reuse'?
Cardboard – For this image we first cut squares out of cardboard. We’ve manually made 1,500 squares out of cardboard. The dress is a tailored made creation. After we cut the squares by hand the next step was to make a perfectly fit mold around the model. We’ve put this mold around a mannequin doll to build up the dress out of cardboard. We’ve glued the squares around the mannequin doll. We spent more than 20 hours on the total process.
Magazines – For this image we have manually made 1,000 beads from old magazines. First we cut even strips from the covers of old magazines. We then cut these strips diagonally into two equal parts. To then roll these strips up one after the other and glue them into a bead. In the end we spent more than 22 hours on this part. The next step was stringing the beads into strings of different lengths. And finally we merged the strands into the neck piece.
PET plastic bottles – For this image we made a ballerina tutu dress out of plastic bottles. We’ve cut and melted the bottles to get them into the right shape. The total process took around 6 hours.
Computer and laptop parts – For this image we made a wig out of computer and laptop parts. We started making a base out of clay. In this mold we’ve assembled the wig out of the parts. The total process took around 6 hours.
Mixed Paper – For this image we first cut squares out of mixed paper. We’ve manually folded every square into a pyramid. In the end we spend more than 20 hours on this part. We’ve manually made 120 pyramids out of mixed paper. For the final part we’ve glued every pyramid piece by piece on the model.
