UNKnowN x Creative Journeys - Sjoukje van Gool

Polina Nosova:Your website states that you were surrounded by water, woods and natureoverall when you were growing up. What role does memory play in shaping yourwork? 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 feeldrawn to it and I feel safe within the nature and the water. But it's not likecapturing a memory. It just feels like home. I don't think about my childhoodthat 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 ofunderwater, mainly because of the fish and the sharks. But I was still verydrawn to it. I had images in my head with people being underwater, and I thinkit’s the best way to visualize my feeling of being lost and wanting to be awayfrom the regular world.}

^{A friend of mine had underwater housing which I could borrow for abit. So, I went to a clear water lake and asked a friend if she could pose forme 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. Itraveled a lot around the world and saw that you can discover so muchunderwater—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 throughunderwater photography.}

^{But, in the Netherlands, it’s really hard to find the right locationsfor 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 morephotography 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 manipulatesome 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 weare going to shoot, and afterwards I will combine those flowers and the underwaterphotos.}

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

^{SG: I don’t know how that could materialize, but I take pictures ofeverything 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. Butyes, 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 playingaround 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 yourwork?

^{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. Andas you grow older, and your community grows older, and more and more people inyour life are going further away from the center. So, the perfect exhibition wouldstart with little picture in the middle, and then have more photos of natureadded 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 tohis museum like four times now, and it’s still an endless inspiration. I aminspired by a lot, but mainly I am inspired by nature and life, actually. Bythe way people think and work.}

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

^{SG: I want to do something in outer water with a lot of people. So, Iwill take photos from the surface with a drone and from the bottom with an underwatercamera. 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 thenext day. But I never know exactly what I am going to do upfront. I create asetting and then I am just open to whatever happens, because that’s the bestway for me to work.}

PN: What do you think art is able to teach you, and also others, thatno other medium can? 

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

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