"I see myself as a painter with a camera. I focus not just on capturing a scene, but on actively composing and building up an image, much like a painter would with a canvas and brush. This mindset leads me to pay close attention to elements like composition, lighting, and color, allowing me to craft an entirely new, personal world.
Water is the key element in my photographical work, it offers a rich exploration of its various qualities-its fluidity, transparency, and reflective properties. Water evokes a sense of wonder and contemplation, inviting viewers to reflect on the ever-changing nature of our perception."
Danielle Kwaaitaal
Danielle Kwaaitaal is an artist and photographer from Amsterdam. From 1984, she studied pattern drawing at the Bijenvelt fashion academy in Amsterdam. After an audiovisual course at the Rietveld Academy, she graduated in 1991 with the series Bodylogos. She edited the photographic shots of herself first manually and later by computer. Her series ‘The Five Senses’ was produced with the paintbox, followed in 1992 by her first solo exhibition Bodyscapes at the Bloom Gallery in Amsterdam. She explored the boundaries of photography with her digitally processed photographs. The female body, beauty and water were often the subjects. In 1994, she targeted a young audience from the house and dance culture as a veejay. Her series Bubbling (1994) shows images consisting of body parts immersed underwater in interplay with air bubbles.