The painting 'The Milkmaid' by Johannes Vermeer is one of the most iconic paintings both of him as well as Dutch 17th century art. The work is currently housed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam where it is on prominent display to the public.
Making a photographic version of this famous painting has been on my mind for a long time and resulted in building the scenery over a period of two years and a six month period of shooting several models as the milkmaid.
This close up forms a great interaction between historic and current times. The classic milkmaid scene is set both in scenery, props and clothing, but this model brings a clearly modern touch into the work with her birghtly coloured flower tattoos on her lower left arm. Milk and (tattoo) ink come together in this picture.
Seeing the sky, the sea, the beauty and the city... Read more…