This is a “Coup de Coeur” of our correspondent Zoé Isle de Beauchaine. The poetic work of Sarah van Rij is highlighted this month in a new exhibition at the Studio of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, as well as through the release of her first monograph by Note Note Editions. Titled Atlas of Echoes, the Dutch photographer traces the evolution of her practice, from her early street photography to explorations of still life, self-portraiture, and collage. Here is the text accompanying the exhibition, on view from December 11.
The exhibition presents a selection of series created by Sarah van Rij during her wanderings through major metropolises. Combining urban landscapes, self-portraits, and collages, the artist paints a poetic portrait of the modern city: fragmented, enigmatic, and driven by a cinematic rhythm. Through her lens, passers-by become characters in an urban theatre; silhouettes framed through windows, cast shadows, or fleeting details of hands and clothing captured in motion.
This visual approach, positioned at the crossroads of street photography and cinematic aesthetics, transforms the ordinary into a sensitive stage. Each image conveys the intensity of a fleeting moment, revealing how chance, the rhythm of the crowd, and light come together to compose fragmentary narratives.
Sarah van Rij also creates collages exclusively from her own photographs, as a way of recycling her work and extending her visual explorations beyond the act of shooting.
With this keen attention to the invisible signs of everyday life, Sarah van Rij questions the very act of looking: What do we really see when we wander through the streets? What do the gestures of others, reflections, tell us? Her photographs open up a space for projection and daydreaming, where contemplation and imagination intertwine
https://www.mep-fr.org/en/event/sarah-van-rij-atlas-of-echoes/
