Anita Neve - Photography
Anita Neve | Amsterdam, 1968
I make photographs because I am curious.
About people, about places, about the things we usually pass without really looking at them. Photography gives me a reason to stop and pay attention.
For me, photography is a form of contact. When I make a photograph of someone, I am interested in what happens when there is enough space for that person to stop performing.
I don't particularly care for the polished version of people. I would rather see something that feels like them.
Space has become an important part of the way I look at the world. There is the physical space around us — a landscape, a room, a street — but there is also the space we need as human beings. Space to breathe, to feel comfortable, to be ourselves. Perhaps that is why I am often drawn to people who seem slightly out of place, to empty spaces, unexpected combinations, or moments that don't quite behave as we expect them to.
I don't have a fixed idea of what a photograph should look like. Sometimes I want it to be sharp and precise. Sometimes the light is more important than the subject. Sometimes an image works best because something is slightly odd about it.
I like photographs that leave a little room for the viewer. An image doesn't always have to explain itself. It can simply make you look twice. My personal work is not about showing how interesting the world is. The world manages that quite well without my help.
It is about looking closely enough to notice.
My commercial work can be found on www.anitaneve.nl (in Dutch)