Take Off, 2013

When you see Take Off for the first time, you might wonder whether the image was accidentally presented upside down. But this is precisely how the Dutch artist Viviane Sassen intended it to be. Turning the image upside down affects our sense of gravity. Instead of dangling down from the adult’s shoulders, the child’s hands now seem raised and appear to radiate a certain power and grace, like an angel in a classic painting. But it isn’t just the upside-down presentation that creates an alienating effect: it is also the odd posture that the two entangled figures form and the invisibility of their faces and facial expressions. The result is a mysterious atmosphere and a certain unease on the part of the viewer. Viviane Sassen performed a lot of photography work in Kenya, the country of her earliest childhood memories. The surroundings, the light, the colours and the people in this East African country had a strong impact on her iconic visual language. Compare this work with her other images in the Foam collection: Codex from the series Parasomnia and Lilac from the series Flamboya.

Take Off served as campaign image for Unseen 2013, an annual photography event in Amsterdam’s Westergasfabriek, of which Foam is one of the co-founders.