Rietveld Uncut: The Shallows

…to capture an entity with fathomless depth, a natural force in perpetual motion, and submerge beneath its vast, ecstatic surface…
…to risk the slightest, nightly view into its shallows, not unlike the deceptive thinness of black ice, and wade through wavy tides…
…to admire the gentle movement, produced by unknown agitation, and it’s persistent washing away all that was, infinite moments ago…
…an expedition to freeze all this in an instant, and preserve it forever, like the polished glaciers on Enceladus that cover a secret, extraterrestrial ocean in cosmic space…


In a very direct encounter between sea water, light sensitive paper, human skin, wind and sand, and an electronic flash, this 10-meter-long silver gelatin print was made during nighttime, in the shallow waters of the North Sea. The accompanying book being a translation of our shared experience of crossing dunes, wading in the cold tide, in an effort to fuse all elements in an uncontrolled process.

A project by Miles Schleifer, Mabel Ranselli, Sophia Xu, Sybren Tieleman, Rodrigo Munnecom, Vincent Zedelius 
The project was exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam from 23 to 26 March.