11 July 2016 // Puck Gall //Amsterdam

//EGGLESTON MEETS DAMEN

About two years ago I ran into a book by William Eggleston in a strange secondhand store. I immediately got mesmerized by his photo’s. He photographs our everyday life, random scenery that we all pass by but he takes the time to capture it. It is mostly the colors that made his photo’s so appealing to me. So it comes as no surprise that this is exactly what he is know for. He has been one of the first photographers to push colored photography into the art world. 

Born in Memphis in 1939 he has photographed this city for years. In some of his work he references the city very clearly but I am personally more fascinated by his abstract photo’s. His photo’s transform common places into dreamy landscapes. 

This is exactly what the work of Florence Damen does to me. Florence is a dear friend of mine who has no background in photography as William had none, but has such a great eye for composition and color.
She has lived in Rotterdam all her life and can capture the city as no one has ever seen it. Her parents live in France, so this is also a popular scenery but never falling back on the French cliches. The more she photographs the better she gets and I dare to say that she and Eggleston share the same vision. They both capture everyday life without too many words. 

Funny fact is that Florence did not know about the work of Eggleston as he does not know her. I therefor wanted to mix their work up to see who can spot the difference. And with that I want to thank them for showing us the interesting images that most of us will just walk by in our busy everyday life. It is all within the eye.