Above: Lucas
'A picture is never perfect. I hate my mistakes in the finished photo. But I also cherish them. Those mistakes. They mean that there's more to do. More to learn. The journey is infinite.'
Dave Koster
On his website photographer Dave Koster shares that he was born Dublin, Ireland and had a camera in his hands for the first time at the age of 15.
'At the age of 21 I moved to London and spent a number of years visiting various countries, finally settling down close to home, in the Netherlands. I speak dutch fluently. F or the past three years I've been concentrating on "people" photography. Portraits, fashion, editorial, nudes. Things like that. Trying, with varying degrees of success, to capture images that best portray the inner temperament of the person in front of the lens.'
For some reason when thinking about how to best describe Dave's work I was unable to get the word 'reflection' out of my head. I think it is because like many of the photographers I profile, my love and respect for his work began with just one photo. With Dave Koster that photo was of a model named Déjean (photo at the end of the next post). In the shot, Déjean was standing naked gazing out a window. The glass was tempered (or at least appeared so), and even though you can clearly see Déjean in front of the window, it was his reflection I found myself staring at. I kept looking to see if I could see more of his face, more of his eyes, his expression within the glass. Reflections mirror of course what they see but reflections are also the opposite of what is there which is why they can be so intriguing when used in photography.
Photography is or course rooted in reflection. The law of reflection says that for specular reflection the angle at which the wave is incident on the surface equals the angle at which it is reflected. In photography this law of reflection is most often connected to light. The angle and degree of light can effect the way the object, in Dave Koster's case, the model, looks.
When viewing Dave's photos I was interested in how he used other forms of reflection. Although not present in all his shots there is certainly a reflection theme, as in the shot of Déjean, with Dave's frequent use of water, mirrors and glass. In Art, other types of reflection also come in to play. When viewing the work of a great photographer it is also the reflection, the life experiences and even mood of the viewer that determine how it is received.
It is this type of reflection that came to mind when Dave shared a bit of his new project with me. Dave's newest project has the working title: "You don't see THAT every day!"
'It's will be a collection of stark nudes where the viewer is uneasily confronted by the model portraying a strange juxtaposition of opposite emotions.....and also nude images based on conflicting values in our "new Europe", which some would have us believe is bursting at the seams with the emergence of new social and religious dilemmas.'
Thanks to Dave Koster for sharing his images, some previously unpublished with FH! I hope to share more of Dave's work, especially when his new project gets underway in the future.
Check out Dave Koster on MM HERE:
Check out Dave on Facebook HERE:
Below: Tauan
Below: Robert
