Merel Waagmeester (1981) lives and works in the Netherlands and Spain.
She studied Fine Arts at the Utrecht School of the Art and Design (NL) and photography at the Facultad de Bellas Artes, Universidad de Granada, Spain.

While each photograph is a moment in time, the compositions that Waagmeester captures seem timeless.
She doesn’t aim to capture action, a story or an anecdote, instead, her images evoke an atmosphere of stillness and introspection.
I prefer things simple, silent and profound.
In response to the complexity and noise of everyday life, I tend to the minimal, to simplicity, images that breathe and are open to interpretation. In my work, I explore a certain emptiness that is not empty, a vital silence.
There is a difference between the direct experience and the interpretation of it and photography consistently appeals to selfless contemplation as such. To me, a suitable image is an image that is open and transparent. There is neither beginning nor end, images that are both recognizable and touch upon the unfathomable mystery of themselves.

Through my work, I aim to touch a space that is free from oppositions, midway between form and emptiness, object and subject. As a continuous seeking and feeling for balance, in which harmony seems both a task and a destination.
A precarious space, the ambience of the in-between.