Transformation by Holding Time (kunstenaar met muze)

Summary

Transformation by Holding Time consists of shots of a seated naked woman. Polaroid pictures of the woman are made, which are then mounted on a glass plate in front of the camera, in three rows of five. This causes the woman to gradually fade from view. At the same time, the frame is again filled with images of women, because these photos develop to become visible to the camera.

The top row shows her head and shoulders, the middle her torso, and the lower her legs. When the final pictures are attached, the picture seems frozen; only the very last Polaroid is slightly crooked as the photographs develop.

The film was shot in half an hour at two frames per second, and was not edited. What Paul de Nooijer shows is that the static nature of the photos and the dynamics of film are interchangeable. He thereby enters the border area between film and photography, in which he has both media overlap each other in a virtuoso way.

In Transformation there is no time for incremental process; instead, this is a succession of moments. The film allows the viewer to reflect on the idea of looking. De Nooijer, as it were, adds time to the photographic work.