UNKnowN x Creative Journeys - Sjoukje van Gool

Polina Nosova:Your website states that you were surrounded by water, woods and nature overall when you were growing up. What role does memory play in shaping your work? Do you seek to capture this dreamlike feeling of memories?

^{Sjoukje van Gool: I'm not really aware that it's a memory. I just feel drawn to it and I feel safe within the nature and the water. But it's not like capturing a memory. It just feels like home. I don't think about my childhood that much, actually. It's just a flash. But I just, I feel drawn to the nature.} 

PN: How did you begin your specialization in underwater photography?

^{SG: I was diving when I was doing the Photography Academy inAmsterdam. And because I was looking for poetic visuals, or poetry-like images,I felt very drawn to water. I was also always a little but scared of underwater, mainly because of the fish and the sharks. But I was still very drawn to it. I had images in my head with people being underwater, and I think it’s the best way to visualize my feeling of being lost and wanting to be away from the regular world.}

^{A friend of mine had underwater housing which I could borrow for a bit. So, I went to a clear water lake and asked a friend if she could pose for me while I take photos. The images turned out so beautiful and so magical thatI wanted to do more work like this, so I ended up buying my own equipment. It raveled a lot around the world and saw that you can discover so much underwater—it tells everything. It is powerful and it is poetic. It’s silent, but it’s also rough. I realized that I can tell my whole story through underwater photography.}

^{But, in the Netherlands, it’s really hard to find the right locations for underwater photoshoots. When we bought our new house eight years ago, we thought it would be nice to build an underwater studio so I can do more photography and also teach other people how to do it. That’s when it really became a niche for me.}  

PN: So, you are a practicing teacher right now?

^{SG: Yes, I give masterclasses.}

PN: Do you also do moving images, like film?

^{SG: I actually only do photography. In the future, I would like to try some moving things but I really prefer photography because it’s a single image that draws you into itself. It’s static because it’s an image, but there is so much movement within the photograph.}  

PN: What is the post-production process like for your photographs? 

^{SG: I do edit my photos, but it’s really different for every picture.A lot of my work is done in one shot, so what you see is what you get, and thenI can maybe add some vibrancy and contrast to the pictures. But I do manipulate some of my images as well. For example, when I do underwater portraits, sometimes I’ll take pictures of flowers around the pool or the area where we are going to shoot, and afterwards I will combine those flowers and the underwater photos.}

PN: Can you see yourself working with other elements, besides water?

^{SG: I don’t know how that could materialize, but I take pictures of everything in nature. So, as long as it’s nature and I can connect with it, yes. I want to do something with fire as well, but I am not sure how yet. But yes, definitely all elements are welcome.}  

PN: When you photograph people underwater, how does the subject of thephotograph inspire the aesthetic direction of the final image?

^{SG: Every person is different, and every person has a different flow.There is so much going on in the water, so each time it’s a process of playing around and seeing what happens; capturing this and tweaking that.} 

PN: What do you think water is able to achieve for your pieces thatother elements cannot?

^{SG: I am very drawn to water and I have a very deep connection withit. It’s endless, and it’s an endless inspiration too—I can do anything withit.}

PN: Do you consider yourself to be in a dialogue with water in your work?

^{SG: I don’t know if it’s a dialogue, but I am learning from the water.The water is teaching me everything about life.}

PN: What would your dream exhibition look like?

^{SG: It would start with a small shell, so starting before birth. And as you grow older, and your community grows older, and more and more people in your life are going further away from the center. So, the perfect exhibition would start with little picture in the middle, and then have more photos of nature added around it, until you are at the end of the circle so it will resemble ashell. If you look from above, the room would be round and the photos willexpand with more people and nature—just showing how life looks zoomed out.}

PN: What artists inspire you?

^{SG: I’ve always been really inspired by Salvador Dali. I’ve been to his museum like four times now, and it’s still an endless inspiration. I am inspired by a lot, but mainly I am inspired by nature and life, actually. By the way people think and work.}

PN: We talked about your dream exhibition, but what does your dream photograph look like?

^{SG: I want to do something in outer water with a lot of people. So, I will take photos from the surface with a drone and from the bottom with an underwater camera. It would be a really big production, and I would like to take a week todo it, so I can try every day and see what happens, and then fine tune it the next day. But I never know exactly what I am going to do upfront. I create a setting and then I am just open to whatever happens, because that’s the best way for me to work.}

PN: What do you think art is able to teach you, and also others, that no other medium can? 

^{SG: Well, art can be a form of escape from daily life, so I like to think that it's an escape from the ordinary things. You can look at a good artwork and feel something different every time. Its stories are endless.}

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