Photographer Sabine Rovers creates dreamworlds to temporarily escape reality’s troubles and stimulate connection.
In Meet the Creator we talk to inspiring creatives about their work and motivations. This time: Photographer Sabine Rovers creates dreamworlds to temporarily escape reality’s troubles and stimulate connection.
Photographer Sabine RoversAs we call on FaceTime, I see one of her own works hanging on the wall behind her from her 'slow down' series, taken in Portugal. ‘’Well, that journey was perhaps also a kind of flight, but maybe it was actually about living life as well,’’ Sabine says. She recites a quote by Edward Abbey that expresses her life motto. “One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it.’’
‘’Meaning, don’t put all your energy in worrying about things falling apart, you have to enjoy things as well. I went for a walk every day in Portugal; that is a very nice way for me to connect with myself and the country around you. And that slow pace is special too. Not always on the run, hence the title “What are we all rushing for?” Those photos function as a souvenir to an important time in my life.’’
Sabine didn’t want to be stuck in a merry-go-round of continuously taking assignments and having no opportunity to get away. So, she bought a little car and just headed to Portugal, motivated by an interest to find out more about regenerative agriculture. It is that curiosity that drives her photography work.
‘’I’ve been incredibly curious all my life. If I see a closed door, I want to open that door. And photography is a great way to do that. Especially if it's something you can capture and show to others. It starts with myself, and my own curiosity, but the real fun is in sharing and enjoying it with others. When other people can also see that door that I opened, I'm happy.’’
“I feel a fear of losing connection, both with each other and with nature.”
The Simple Act of Walking
Photographs from the series ‘The Simple Act of Walking’ below. Available on print!
Creating dream worlds
Sabine studied media and culture, and initially wanted to become a documentary filmmaker. But it was difficult to do on your own as you need a whole team to do that. Photography was different, “because when I just started, I could just go out with my camera on my own, I didn’t need anyone or anything else. It caught on quickly and then I just continued doing that. I have a huge love for photography but actually my passion has always been documentary film.”
The message she wants to convey in her work relates back to fears of an increasingly frightening world. ‘’To me, it is a fear of losing connection. Both with each other and with nature, subjects that are close to my heart and I contemplate daily.’’ Photography or film allows her to create a world for herself and others where for a while you can forget those fears. ‘’So instead of actually showing the cold reality of the world, with all the corresponding doomsday images, I like to do the opposite: create a world in which you can flee, feel good and can take a breather, just a very nice dream world.’’ For a large part, this stems from her own need for such a world. ‘’And to me, that's what art can do. When I listen to a piece of classical music or watch a good movie, I can just forget everything for a while. If I could also evoke that feeling in others, I think that would be the best thing I could achieve.’’
“The small things you as an individual can do in your own backyard appeal much more to the public than large ice caps melting, leaving you feeling powerless.”
Cowboy Kees
“I have a penchant for cowboys and country music. I ran into Dutch cowboy Kees from Kamerik. Clad in typical cowboy hat, leather boots and big grey moustache, Kees looks like he came walking straight out of a Western. He chose to leave the modern and stressful society behind and lead a simple and pure life in a little wooden cabin surrounded by nature.”
Sabine decided to follow him, which resulted in a photo series. “There was something about him, the way he exuded so much peace and freedom,” she says. “A certain freedom that I do not know in the Netherlands. A kind of peace and connection with nature. It is 7 years ago that I got to know him, back then I was not at all concerned with subjects such as nature.”
The friendship with Kees, and documenting his way of living, spurred on a connection with nature.‘’He has such an enormous love for nature. By sharing this with me, I became excited and able to enjoy this as well. What also played a role is that I was working so hard that I couldn't tolerate the pressure of city life anymore. Nature became a refuge, a place to relax. The more I was there, the more I enjoyed it and connected with it. After spending lots of time in nature and reading about it, I understood the importance of this connection between man and nature.”
“Kees also has many life rules that inspired me enormously. The ones that I find most beautiful are: to respect nature, find your freedom and listen to your intuition. It appealed to me very much so, because intuition is most important in everything I do.”
It was inspirational to learn from his way of life for Sabine. “He faced adversity, lost everything that was dear to him. Then he realised that the most essential thing we have here on earth could not be taken away from him: nature. The power of nature gave Kees the energy to slowly blossom again.”
She describes Kees as her “natural self-help book in our modern society”, with his own rules, lifestyle and mentality that makes you ponder what life is really about. “And I think that's what fascinates me every time I turn to a new subject. People who do it their own way. That's something I'm really looking for in life.”
“It is actually my mission to connect people with nature and with each other, so humanity plays a large role in my work.”
Positivity or doom?
Sabine doesn’t see herself as a journalist, more as an artist. ‘’Because I have the freedom of an artist. In these stories I consciously choose to focus more on the positive side of things. So that it is me who creates that dream world: I project in my work how I would like things to be. And that's the story I'm telling.’’ She says that of course her subjects also have dark sides. ‘’It’s important to show both, and I do. But the light predominates. Because in this created world of mine, I really want to transport the viewer there, and see what a different world could look like.’’
She mentions an article she read, about a study in which they analysed art about climate change. It compared images in which doom thinking is depicted to solution-oriented art. And it was very clear that the solution-oriented approach was considered the best by all respondents. ‘’This is a good example for me of why I want to do it. For me, it’s also these kinds of works that appeal to me the most. Because it makes me feel that I can change something. The small things you as an individual can do, in your own backyard for example appeal much more to the public than large ice caps melting, leaving you feeling powerless.’’
She describes the atmosphere that is recurring in her work as optimistically lovely. ‘’I think my childish curiosity also plays a major role. The childlike innocence; I'm very fond of the old days,’’ she explains. The nostalgia for those days evokes feelings of freedom and an absence of rules for her. ‘’In the world of a child, you are less concerned with how you present yourself. There are fewer rules to abide by and standards to conform to. It is this kind of innocence that I’m looking for and want to apply in my work, because the real world is darker. In this way, it is an implicit criticism on the state of the world without becoming negative in itself.’’
‘’I am always looking for the connection with the other. And in the end, it is also the use of colour that matters a lot. I don't use hard contrasts and that has to do with the dream world I want to create. No dark things.’’
Want to know more? Visit sabinerovers.com and follow her on Instagram | Written by Thijs Broekkamp. Photo credits: Sabine Rovers.
