A Perfect World: Retrospective

A world frozen in the ideal of beauty.
Ruud van Empel creates photographic works of people and nature that appear very realistic, yet are not. This is not something you see at a glance, but something you feel immediately. His oeuvre, characterized by a mild nostalgia, reflects an idealized world, reinforced by memories and surpassed by the computer.

After 14 years, a comprehensive book of Ruud van Empel's photographic work is finally being published again. It shows a wide selection from his photo series dating back to 1995, when he first presented his artworks to the public. Series such as The Office, Study in Green, and World are now known worldwide. His later work consists primarily of landscapes composed from photographs taken during his many travels to Japan, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Cuba, among others, as well as many European countries. Xavier Canonne (Fotografiemuseum Charleroi) wrote the introduction for this retrospective. Christophe Ruys (former director of FOMU and the Antwerp Fashion Museum) and Lex van de Haterd (researcher and publicist) wrote essays that analyze his work and fathom his unique technique.