Still Lifes in Light

The Pinhole Images of Willem Labeij

Willem Labeij is a painter and visual artist who was born in the Netherlands in 1943. He studied art and industrial design and spent many years travelling the world. He currently lives in the Netherlands where he concentrates on his art, breeds orchids and draws bryophytes (the division of plants to which mosses, liverworts, and hornworts belong).

Willem Labeij refers to himself as a pinholer, and not a photographer. A pinhole camera does not have a lens: light passes through a tiny hole directly onto the film without the intermediary of a lens.

Although his pinhole works are varied in both treatment and subject matter, among his most compelling images are still lifes, in which both his love of nature and his talent as an artist shine through. These images also place him in the long tradition of still life in the Netherlands; it is from the Dutch word "stilleven" that the English term is derived.

In many of his still lifes, Labeij's paintings serve as backdrops for the objects in his compositions. The results are striking: a seamless blend of light and paint that combines a brilliant Fauve-like palette with the curious softness that is one of the hallmarks of pinhole images. In "Still Life No. D," the background painting acts as a mirror that reflects back and distorts the objects in the foreground and also adds its own sympathetic strokes and shapes of color.

Labeij's still lifes can also take on more subdued tones. In "Still Life with Dandelion and Orchid," the edges of objects slightly blur into the background and the transition between shadow and light is also softened. The flowers seem to have been plucked from memory or dream.

Through his mastery of color and composition, as well as his creative imagination, Labeij infuses his still lifes with the full richness of atmosphere that the pinhole technique makes possible.

To see more of Willem Labeij's work, visit his page at the Pinhole Gallery