Nienke
van Boom

Nienke van Boom is a passionate Dutch artist based in Amsterdam, striving to express her deep-rooted inquiry into the human condition through her art. Nienke approaches her work with an anthropological perspective, blending her experiences of interpersonal relationships and social issues with a political, activist aspect. Through her engaging photographic practice, she captures moments of everyday life that exist within cultural and intercultural exchange, bringing perspective to her audience, even in her most subtle photographic explorations. Ultimately, Nienke's art seeks to provoke thought and question the social dynamics which exist in our world today. 

Through photography, anthropologist and visual artist Nienke expresses her love for animals and interest in power dynamics. She seeks to provoke the viewer into looking anew at the human and nonhuman animal relationships in the Anthropocene, the epoch during which humans have a substantial impact on our planet. Through her work, she strives to capture and reflect the complexities of the human and non-human animal experiences, exploring identity, power, culture and societal divides in otherwise perceived mundane encounters.

By exploring themes of domestication and power, Nienke uses lighting and composition to draw attention to encounters that often pass us by unnoticed in everyday life. Her documentary black-and-white photography unpack the choices, experiences and emotions that connect us all. Who we choose to be our friend and who will be our food. How we care for them, or who is neglected. How we decide how they live, eat and reproduce their animal life in all the kinds of spaces that we create. How can we reflect on the choices we make to create a more sustainable future and world for everyone, she asks. Challenging our preconceived notions of animals in our society, her work ultimately invites us to take a closer, more reflective look into our own relationship with animals and the ways in which we navigate and inhabit our space with them.