Renowned Dutch photographer Ruud van Empel’s work reveals to us the possibilities of fusing art and technology. Trained as a graphic designer, van Empel creates rich digital photographs that are manipulations of people and places as seen in his imagination. He invents these images by shooting a variety of models in his studio and combing through his native Dutch forests to find the perfect leaves, branches and waters to photograph.  He digitally dissects and reconstructs these images to create his fantastical, photo-realistic worlds and portraits. With his most recent work, he continues the exploration of lost innocence in a digital age present in his earlier series. These pieces directly interrogate the dichotomy of appearance and reality, with an eye to the demands of constructed, “online” identity and the disconnection that it engenders.