Matthijs Uivel – The Stranger

The Stranger is a series inspired by Albert Camus’ 1948 L’Étranger. A set of photographs that try to illustrate the existential struggle and the absurd indifference found in emotional detachment. Images that dig through the muddy remnants of past lives, looking for suitable descriptions of our micromanaged behavioural sinks. Digging and describing, similar to the protagonist Meursault — until it uncovered a vaguely familiar figure. The strange outline of something… misinterpreted, misrepresented and most certainly misjudged, but there all the same. These photographs document the continuous thought experiment of what would happen if you accept that mass for what it is, push it all the way up and let it fall down, over and over again, without remorse.

Matthijs Uivel is a Dutch conceptual artist currently living and working in Amsterdam. His work often combines heavy thematics with obscure and simple photographic gestures, dealing with discontinued sequences and hidden messages. Drawing inspiration from literature, philosophy and music. After his Masters degree in Photography at the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Antwerp he regularly exhibits and published work. Recently self-publishing the series To Record Only water for Ten Days which has been selected for the GUP New Talent 2020 book. He also shares a photography studio with his wife and artistic partner at Atelier Jùnn, working with vintage darkroom techniques and portrait photography.