Julie van der Vaart – Stranger to Myself

”The work of young photographer Julie van der Vaart shows surprising maturity. It appears to find its origin in the resoluteness of producing images that somehow embody the subjective struggle for inner peace. Julie’s body of work radiates what one could call an aura of peacefulness, in which the notion of peace, as inherited from both eastern and western philosophy, is dynamic rather than static. The inner movement of gaining inner peace is the dynamic quest that moves Julie’s images. Especially in times in which we are overwhelmed by ubiquitous loudness and frenzy, inner peace is a most rare quality and state of heart and mind to achieve. One could almost assert that is a forgotten quality. Peace is not about the muteness of the deaf, of the insensitive towards the attractiveness of the world. Rather, it is the hidden treasure that can be found during the reunion, that particular moment in which the ‘I’ returns to the inner self and finds the spiritual energy that western contemporary man often seeks to buy on the market of the cultural industry. The ‘I’ finds itself by losing itself in a daydreaming-like state of mind.” – Virginia Tassinari

Maxime, 2010

Amber, 2011

Pablo, 2011

Elke, 2012

Kathleen, 2014

Melloney, 2013

Geoffrey, 2012

Eveline, 2014

The entire text that Virginia Tassinari wrote about Julie van der Vaart’s work can be found in ”The self Creation” book, for sale in different bookshops in The Netherlands or on this link. Julie van der Vaart is from The Netherlands but she lives and works in Belgium. She obtained a Master in Fine Arts, Photography, and started the Specific Teacher Training. She is am represented by 44 Gallery and for prints you can contact her personally. More of her works and other information on  www.julievandervaart.com.