TITLE: Prelude

In the analog photo series “Prelude,” I explore how it is – and how it was – to be a child. When time is not yet important. When seeing is believing, and what we hear, smell, taste and touch create lasting memories that we carry with us for the rest of our lives.

The images of "Prelude" contain a significant “diary” component representative of my daily life. For me photography is a medium i use to contemplate daily life, closely observe the environment to which it belongs, and carefully examine its form and content. As such, my work is the outcome of a meeting between a photograph that is intimate and poetic and one that is analytical, I’m able to grasp the formal and semantic aspects of my experiences and this opens an important dialogue with my emotional world.

For this series, I chose to work with black-and-white film and to print the negatives in the darkroom. To me, color fits better with the present, and black and white makes things more timeless. When I work with film, I work more deliberately, and am better able to concentrate on what I’m doing. After all, I've only got ten shots before I have to change the film, and each shot costs money. I’m fairly impatient by nature, and for me, working with film means I really have to concentrate on the subject, and as a result I’m more in touch with it. I’m convinced this comes across in the photograph.
I’m very enthusiastic about the quality of analog prints. I see a difference with digital. It’s hard to explain, but for me an analog black-and-white print feels more authentic. Digital might be more precise, but because of this it does something to the content, and that’s not always what I’m after.
The series Prelude contains in total 39 photographs.

AUTHOR: Madeleine Kukic (Netherlands)

Ever since graduating from the Academy of Fine Art and Design St. Joost, The Netherlands in 1994, I’ve worked as a photographer and visual artist. After spending a few years devoting my time to my young family, I started photographing again in 2014. I see this period as a new beginning, which is why I’ve chosen to show only new work from now on.

Recently my work has been published in several photography magazines (e.g. SHOTS Magazine winter issue no.134), my work has been selected to be international exhibit (e.g. Focus Photography Festival Mumbai 2017) and my work has awarded with silver in TIFA.