Photographer Frank Hoogeboom is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of these images. From the project ‘The World Below’’. To see Frank’s body of work, click on any photograph.

‘The World Below’ series was shot in 2018 during a round trip in Iceland. My intention was to show that, although human intervention is visible, it is pretty much nature that runs our planet. This is especially visual in places like Iceland. Nature decides, shapes and forms. We, as humans, are merely bystanders. Imagining looking from above down to this wonderful landscape, it would make you wonder how all this beauty could exist. Hence the title of the series.

Artist Statement

As a child, I lived a carefree life until my father suddenly passed away. For me, the world felt silent. In that silence, I became aware of the sounds of nature in a way I never had before. It left a deep impression on me.

Years later, I discovered photography and soon realized that I had unconsciously been searching for the stillness I experienced as a child. Through photography, I also strongly felt my father’s presence, who was a passionate amateur photographer. It brought me focus and a way to capture the world as I experienced it. Nature unfolds in its own time. We are merely witnesses.

Before making a photograph, I need to feel connected to the landscape, as my images are not just recordings or registrations, but above all an invitation to self-reflection. An ode to the silence a place can offer.

I photograph places where silence becomes tangible, space takes center stage, and emptiness is no longer absent but present. Through analog photography, I seek the beauty of simplicity, stillness and time.

If my photographs invite you to pause, even for a brief moment, as I once did as an eight-year old boy, then they have fulfilled their purpose. Silence. Space. Presence.

About Frank

I started photography in my teens by photographing military aircraft at a nearby airbase.

Soon I learned that there were many more interesting things to photograph besides aircraft and I started exploring. I learned that landscape photography provided me the peace and solace I was looking for but it wasn’t until I embarked on a photography workshop to Norway’s Lofoten islands that I witnessed the full potential of fine art landscape photography. This was one step beyond of what I did and I immediately knew that this was the path I wanted to follow.

More photographic trips with seasoned photographers followed in which I learned a great deal more about fine art photography. Family holidays were planned around interesting locations and I sharpened my photographic skills while developing my personal signature.

In recent years, I picked up an analog medium format camera to experiment. This was the type of camera I always wanted to own but could not afford at the time. I realized that being restricted to only 12 exposures on a film made me more carefully compose and expose. Being forced to slow down resulted in a better connection with my subject: the landscape. Instead of hunting for data, I now go out with a clear intention to work on a piece of art that will hopefully resonate much longer and reflect the stillness and timelessness I long for.