Mark Verdoes

Mark Verdoes was born on October 30, 1960, in The Hague. From a young age, he expressed himself creatively, primarily through drawing and music; he took his first photographs at around the age of 6. In the early 1980s, he studied at the School for Photography and Photonics in The Hague, after that he began working as a photojournalist for various magazines such as AvantGarde, Esquire, and others. In 1990, he became a member of the photo agency Hollandse Hoogte in Amsterdam. Ten years ago, seeking a new creative challenge, he began painting and sculpting alongside his photography. To support this, he studied at the Royal Academy in The Hague. After a few years, commissioned photography was replaced by a life devoted to fine art. Freed from the formal constraints of journalistic reportage, he now approaches photography more as an art form. Playing with reality, he feels free to alter elements such as color, contrast, and content. After digital manipulation, the photos are printed on watercolor paper, giving them a gouache-like appearance. This results in autonomous images that transcend traditional photography—images that Mark Verdoes describes as visual poetry. Today, most of his time is dedicated to photo productions. In addition to 'pure' photography, he works with mixed media, where photographic elements are heavily altered and sometimes combined with paint. The little remaining time is spent painting.