Don't Trust Pretty Girls

In this photographic series, I explore my relationship with my family in-law. The title refers to the tattoo on the grandfather's left arm. I was guided in my images by the stories they told me, their memories and my interpretation on both.

In ‘Don’t Trust Pretty Girls’, I explore my relationship with my family in-law. I staged situations based on stories and memories the family confided in me. Using both existing and invented narratives, a play of possibilities opens a new space to the viewer. Tension between the real, fantasy and the unknown, leaves room to question what you see. Confronting me audience with a ‘family’, I hopes to let them wonder about what kind of roles we play and fulfill in our surroundings.

The title ‘Don’t Trust Pretty Girls’ refers to the tattoo on the grandfather's left arm. It starts a process of subjective interpretation. I am convinced that, even though the viewer looks at the photographs with their personal baggage, the perceptions of depicted narratives are heavily influenced by conventions of popular media and the structure of society. As there is no way to escape these conventions, I decided to actively use them by setting up a highly controlled, personal dramaturgy.