Midnight Salvage by photographer Sophie van Dijken

About Midnight Salvage

In Midnight Salvage, Sophie van Dijken investigates what happens when she lets go of control and natural elements start to play their own autonomous role in how images are created. She makes many of her images outdoors, where she often works without a camera. There, often at night, she makes photograms in which plants, animals, roots, and other finds determine the shape of the image, while natural forces such as rain, wind, and moonlight also exert influence.

Sophie lets the process determine the direction, often through this direct interaction between natural elements and light-sensitive photographic material. She is both participant and spectator; active in the process, but also stepping back to allow space for the influence of nature.

In this way, images emerge from an interplay between Sophie and the unpredictable workings of nature itself. Through chance and experiment, unforeseen elements emerge that reflect the dynamics of nature and create meaning in its image.

The urge to order and control the world around us leaves less and less space for nature. In this project, Sophie tries to get nearer, removing layers in the process.

She is looking for a way to approach nature not as a tool or a backdrop, but as something with intrinsic value – an active force that helps shape the work. Not to explain or pin down, but to see what happens when nature plays its own role and tells the story itself.