Carol P. Govaert


Inspiration

My work is inspired by my dark side. I am fascinated in the shadowy, murky, depraved side of human nature. It gives me peace of mind to be able to bring out what is in my subconscious and gives me a way to process the world's depravities. I approach my projects in two ways: intuitively and conceptually. When I photograph intuitively, it is with a complete sense of freedom: there are no goals to be achieved.  My conceptual work can take years to reach the light of day. But once I start photographing, I looses all track of time. After these sessions, I often feel that the photographs were taken by another person because they do not reflect my day time persona. She is eclectic and  experimental and does not like to be pigeon holed as this or that kind of artist. What defines my work is not a particular genre but the moody, cinematic undertones present in all my photographs.


I remain sane because I am able to expunge what is in my mind.

About

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I am originally from Latin America from a Salvadorean mother and Argentinean father. I spent my formative years in California and currently reside in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I have had the opportunity to live in many countries and experience many cultures. I am a global nomad. 

My love affair with photography  began 30 years ago when I traveled for the first time to Europe and received my first camera. It was the beginning of a mad and passionate love affair. I found myself at a crossroad after many loved ones had passed away in a short span of time. These monumental life changes cause one to reflect on the fluidity of our existence. In one of these moments of contemplation, a thought hit me like e a lightning rod: I need to make photography my life’s work. I enrolled at the Fotoakademie in Amsterdam. 

It turns out I was always destined to be a photographer. My mother told me just recently that when I was a child I told her that this is what I wanted to be. As a first generation immigrants, they wanted me to study "something I could make money."