The Many Layers Of Viviane Sassen

Some of the most fascinating artists are an amalgamation of many layers of different talents, coming together to deliver a final product that is unique and hard to duplicate. That’s the case for Dutch artist and photographer Viviane Sassen, located in Amsterdam, she’s by now an expert in duality and multifacetism, constantly moving between the realms of fashion, photography and high art in her work. She is known for her use of geometric shapes, often abstractions of bodies as some of her signatures.

Viviane’s name is broadly well-known in the fashion world today, thanks to her work as a fashion photographer but also as a model. Her work can be seen in publications like Dazed and Confused, and while she still calls herself a fashion photographer, she’s no one-trick-pony, she’s a choreographer, a designer, and a sculptor. Her creativity and talent branch out, and that’s also a talent in itself: versatility. Quoting her British Journal of Photography interview: “Editorial work for fashion magazines is my testing ground” – fashion shoots are her time to play and have fun as a creator.

Her photographic work is as unusual as her resume, as she tends to place her models in unusual contexts, using her experience as a choreographer to direct the images she creates, which often have a lot of visual power. Her radical usage of lighting and shadows are also part of her signature, often keeping the identity of her models in the picture as a secret only she knows; it’s not about them, it’s about what she has to say as an artist and getting that message across, and taking viewers into her world through her images, a reflection of her mind and POV: “Mirrors are very important to me because they allow you to step into the other, parallel world”.

Creativity and experimentation are key for her work, as she herself points out: “When I was younger I was jealous of photographers who had their own very personal subject matter and aesthetic. It’s so important to allow yourself the freedom to be truly creative. Experimentation is central to my practice… I feel like I’m always solving little puzzles or making combinations, it’s very simple really. I would bring a few elements together and experiment. It’s all just trial and error. I’m always looking for that little bit of magic.”

“You need to photograph every day, make stuff every day and not be precious about it,” she says, and we hope she practices what she preaches, so we can keep getting more stunning images from her on a daily basis.