Sarah Janssen is a German crossmedia artist and freelance photographer based in Groningen, Netherlands. After receiving a Master in Interactive Media and Envioronments, she started to use photography to explore the human visual perception of images and space, playing with light in night landscapes.
She discovered photography during her bachelor studies in art/crossmedia design, and used it as a first visual note for an idea. Nowadays, she uses photography combined with other mediums. After years practicing, she found out she was attracted by a certain style of lighting, which helped her to explore how we look at objects and spaces. Sarah’s “staged photographs [play] with light – or better said, the absence of it”.
Her dark sceneries create a suspenseful and obscure atmosphere, leaving us to interpret their mysteries, yet the visual message is poetic and balanced. Often inspired by film stills, she places her work at the boundary between documentary and staged photography. Sarah aims to create concentrated pieces of work which point out things that often stay unnoticed during our everyday life. The final work takes the form of crossmedia display, combining photography with videos and interactive installations.
Delve into her projects on her website, and enjoy her instagram feed.
1. About yourself, tell us where are you from, where are you based, what do you do now?I am originally from Germany, now based in Groningen, the Netherlands. There I got my master in Interactive media and environments in 2011. Since then, I work as a media artist and freelance photographer. Next to doing photo assignments I create personal work, often series based.
2. How did you get interested in photography and which role does it play alongside your other medium form of expression?
I first worked with photography during my bachelor studies in art + crossmedia design. Back then, photography was my medium of choice to make a visual note of an idea or something that inspired me. I then discovered that I was often attracted by a certain style of lighting. I started to create staged photographs playing with light – or better said, the absence of it.
In my artistic work, I now use photography as well as video and installation, often combined with each other. My work is about our visual perception of images and space. It interests me, how light effects how we see certain objects or places. In my photos, which are mostly taken at night time, I strive to create a suspenseful and obscure atmosphere without actually telling a complete story.
3. How would you define your style?
My work is situated at the boundary between documentary and staged photography, and is often inspired by film stills. Stylistically it can be best described as mysterious, suspenseful and dark, yet always poetic and balanced. My aim is to create concentrated pieces of work which point out things that often stay unnoticed during our everyday life.
my website link: http://photo.sarahjanssen.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahjanssen/
