Annaleen Louwes

Annaleen Louwes' (1959) keen interest in the ways in which people survive in different circumstances and the impact that has on body-language is shown in several photographic series. Louwes investigates how she can approach her models in an observant but at the same time personal way. This approach is demonstrated in her Studies of Ko Moreau (2002) and her series of Rob K.(2005/2007), both residents of Louwes's  neighbourhood. She followed both men with her camera for over a year, frequently asking them to pose for her in her studio. Thanks to their prolongued contact she was able to explore a wide range of possibilities with regard to lighting, gesture, distance, colour and black and white.In this series Louwes concentrated on a single individual. In 2003 Louwes was an artist-in-residence at the psychiatric hospital on the site of the Willem Arntzhoeve in Den Dolder. During her stay there she photographed a group of ten people at regular intervals. The resulting pictures, The Fifth Season (2003) do not constitute a documentary but are rather a series of images that give a picture of  the specific world in which they live. Jaap S. (2007) shows us photogrpahs of a adolescent enclosed in his own environment.

Spring 2008 Annaleen Louwes was artist-in-residence in Albania. There she entered the world of the women-prison Ali Demi in Tirana. At the end period she made an exhibition (Burgu #325) and organized the occasion for the women to be free for 2 hours and to visit the show at the modern art Galeria Zeta.

Annaleen Louwes lives and works in Amsterdam.