Visual artist

René-Frank Granaada (1947) photographer, from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in an interview: "In my photography people play a central role, in the way they manifest themselves and show their emotions. People's appearance may depend on how they dress and decorate their bodies, but feelings and emotions are universal. My camera and wide angle lens look at all these things... my pictures are photo's of people, real, or, as the projection of a staged dream world on the sensor of my camera."

Different Cultures

René-Frank Granaada as photographer is self taught, and started out as a freelance documentary photographer in the early 1980's. Working on subjects that carried a strong personal interest to him he would then find an audience for those projects. For several years he has been working on a photo report on present day American Indian grandmothers and their cultural heritage. He has visited monasteries in Tibet and photographed the harsh life of the monks there. In 2005 and 2006 he worked on a series of women's portraits, ®"Wildflowers", whereby, using different photographic techniques, he pays homage to the flexibility and versatility that symbolizes women as opposed to their male counterparts: "I like to create settings that show the contrast between a strong natural background and the female as an icon of warmth and steadfastness. As an artist I develop a relationship with my subjects, opening myself to my subjects, so I can incorporate them into my dreams, and make them part of my creative process. If there is no relationship, my images would become 'flat', without expression."

Curiosity

Curiosity about, and openness to others was part of his education as a post WWII child from a Jewish family, with a mother that survived the concentration camp where Anne Frank was murdered. "I know from my own and my family's experience what it means to be an outsider, and when you want your subjects to accept you as an artist, you need to open yourself actively to them as a person. So my curiosity is crucial and it enables me to express myself fully, in color photography, in order to capture the fullness of life. My portraits of women are an experiment in curiosity about the female gender."

Parts of this text come from an interview with Herman Hoeneveld in the Dutch P/F Professional Magazine for Photography and Imaging nr. 7/2001

Exhibitions in The Netherlands:

Stadsbibliotheek 's-Hertogenbosch, Indian Faces, 1999 Café Cordes, 's-Hertogenbosch, 1999 Eetcafé King Arthur, Amsterdam, Monks on Top of the World, 2001 Knillispoort/Kunstpoort, 's-Hertogenbosch, 2001 STOK Punt, De Smeltkroes, 's-Hertogenbosch, 2001 Boekhandel Palaya, 's-Hertogenbosch, 2002 Stichting ARTOTS, 's-Hertogenbosch, 2002 Gallery Guardianenhof, 's-Hertogenbosch, 2002, 2004

Exhibitions in the USA:

BGH Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA, Fall 2003, "Celebrating the Female - Body and Soul". 2007 McClish Coffee, Pine Mountain, CA

Photographs published in FOTO, Brabants Dagblad, Telegraaf, de Bazuin, Bijeen, P/F Kunstbeeld, Tattoo Flash USA