Machiel Botman

"It is a curious experience to look at a photograph and, at the same time, have the impression that this photo is meant for you personally. It unfolds itself before your eyes, like an unexpected present. This complimentary mystery is found in the world of Machiel Botman" (Brigitte Ollier).

Machiel Botman begins to photograph about thirty years ago. There is the White Cat from 1965, but this comes much earlier from when he wasn't ten years old yet. "what I do is quite simple, I just photograph who and what I meet in life, that's like breathing, you just do it".

"There is no plan, other than having the knowledge that all ends up in the larger game, the making of the books. I am convinced the real meaningful photographs come to me, just like that. There is little I can do about it all. What I can do is the books. That is where I learn, where I can find the connections, where I can understand something about myself and others. Obviously I am a non-linear photographer, it is about feeling, about emotions and not so much about what, where and when. Maybe it is about asking questions, but not so much about the answers".
 

Botman's photography is intuitive, he collects his images without much plan, other than to understand their meaning afterwards. Half of Botman's work is the continuous composing of book dummies. These dummies end up in actual published books: Heartbeat (1994) was based on the photographs taken from 1978 to 1994, Rainchild (2004) was based on the photographs from 1994 to 2004. His new and still unpublished book One Tree is based on the photographs he has taken after 2005. Together these three books show a person, a photographer, and his life: his relationships, his child, friends, the places he travels to and the people he meets. It is a changing life, where good things happen, like the birth of his son, and at the same time the not so good things happen, such as the passing of his mother. Botman includes his writings and his drawings in these books. His style is intimate, also dark in meaning and in imagery.

The other part of Botman's work lies in curating exhibitions (lastly in 2008 and 2009 the two large retrospectives of Japanese photographers Miyako Ishiuchi and Kiyoshi Suzuki, both of which traveled through Europe) and creating beautiful object-catalogues to accompany these exhibitions.
Finally, Botman teaches photographic workshops with the emphasis on finding context for the work of students and the making of bookdummies. In Italy Botman has taught with TPW, in New York with The New School University, in Perth with John Curtin University.

Machiel Botman is represented by Gitterman Gallery in New York, Galerie VU in Paris and Kahmann Gallery in Amsterdam. He lives in Maremma, Italy and he does his own prints in Heemstede, The Netherlands.

 

Info
Sinagoga
Via dell’Aquila 3/A - Reggio Emilia
Tel. 0522 451152, 0522 456249, 0522 456635, 0522 456448
Single ticket for all exhibitions 10€. Concessions 7€

Open Times:
Opening Friday 7th May, 19.00
7th May from 19.00 to 24.00; 8th - 9th May from 10.00 to 23.00
From 10th May to 13rd June: from Tuesdays to Fridays from 20.00 to 23.00; Saturdays, Sundays and festivals from 10.00 to 23.00. Monday closed. Open in the morning for schools.

 

8, 9, 14, 15, 16 May from 10.00 to 13.00 and from 14.00 to 18.00 -  Laboratorio didattico Musei Civici

Dietro l’incanto: Bookdummy!

Workshop with Machiel Botman. Curated by InSide Professional Training