MIRANDA SCHMITZ | BLACK WAVES
‘Black Waves’ is an expressionist and metaphorical project that explores the dark depths of grief. It’s based on the true story of a friend of mine, who lost her 19-year-old daughter Eva to suicide while on holiday with her boyfriend in the South of France. The series is a personal visual interpretation of the 7 diaries filled with grief that I received from Eva’s mother.
In this project, I visualize the dark and harsh landscape of mourning. I materialize the nature of sadness and loss. I show the intense desire of the family members left behind to reverse the cruel and heartless truth by adding some negative prints to the story.
The title ‘Black Waves’ refers to Eva’s dark moods, which led to the irreversible act of ending her life. But also to the tides of grief that characterize the life of the family she left behind. Like Murakami wrote: ‘Memories are what warm you up from the inside, but they’re also what tear you apart.’ Grief comes in waves, in paroxysms, in sudden apprehensions that weaken the knees, blind the eyes, and obliterate casual life. Sometimes the waves are overwhelming, like a tsunami. Other times it’s more like rippling water. But after the suicide of one of your loved ones, life will never be the same again.
MIRANDA SCHMITZ
Miranda Schmitz (b. 1969) is a visual storyteller from Belgium. She studied Economics and Psychology, and in daily life, she works as an independent consultant. She also caught the photography bug.
In June 2017, she graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lier. In addition, she followed several masterclasses under the tutelage of well-known photographers (e.g., Michael Ackerman and Klavdij Sluban). The enigmatic and cinematic portraits from her graduation work received global praise with several awards and nominations. They were also frequently exhibited in galleries and at photo festivals across the world.
Miranda Schmitz is drawn to dark and psychological issues, life changes, and a mix of vulnerability and strength. She strives to compile atmospheres, moods, and feelings in her work. She prefers to make pure but suggestive and ambiguous images that are often layered. It is the emotions and the visual poetry that provide an extra layer to her images.
