I have been conducting experiments for as long as I can remember. There was a time when I thought my experiments needed to be so unique that no one had ever done it. I discovered and “invented” new techniques. But only too often, I realised at some point that someone had done it before. Because I did not want to be a copycat but a true original, I immediately ceased to pursue those ideas.

One of the memorable instances was some years ago. At the time, I was pursuing two particular interests. Intentionally de-focussed images and water horizons, the latter preferably in grey weather with little detail. I was very happy with my visual explorations until, purely by chance, I came across a museum exhibition by the Japanese photographer Sugimoto. The first room I walked into was de-focussed images, although mainly wide shots of buildings, which I hadn’t done, my works were mostly on elements, closeups or details. But still, someone had done it. Inwardly groaning, I entered the next room full of water horizons, just as I had been doing. This left me with contrasting feelings. On the one hand, it confirmed that what I was doing made sense; on the other hand, I felt like a copycat even though I was unaware of Sugimoto’s work before this. As a result, I stopped actively working on my experiments until I realised that just because Da Vinci had painted the Mona Lisa, it didn’t mean everybody stopped making portraits.

So - my experiments continue and I don’t care if anybody thinks I am un-original or that I try to copy someone. I do these images because I want to. I share them because you might like them and if you don’t - that’s ok too.

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