New personal work ‘Light of Life’ & ‘Wraith’

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We’d like to share photographer Edo Kars’ most recent personal work, which consists of two series that were shot in the historic Prinsengracht-hospital in the center of Amsterdam. This oldest hospital of Amsterdam that operated from 1857, closed its doors recently. We were given permission to shoot there, before renovation to a new (commercial) destination.

Atmosphere

At the time of the shoot, almost all the furniture was taken out, but the rest was untouched. The sense of history was still vivid. The atmosphere inside was intriguing, knowing that many lives were saved and that dedicated people have been working to cure people. The old morgue downstairs was silently telling the story of the ones that did not make it. The aim of these series was to capture this atmosphere. 

Series 1 : ‘Light of Life’

The first series ‘The Light of Life’, expressed the abstract sense of the light of life that was saved or lost for many souls. This series consist of 5 photographs. With this series, Edo Kars received an honorable mention in IPA (Int’l Photography Awards).

Series 2: ‘Wraith’

Edo felt very intrigued by the atmosphere within the historic building, which was about to disappear forever. He went back again for a second series. With this photographs, he expresses the sense that one gets when standing in the empty rooms – the rooms where the hospital beds used to be, where babies saw the light for the first time, where people suffered from pain and disease, where people recovered, where souls were lost.

The physical traces of time, can be seen on the walls, on the floors. But more than that, the traces of the souls can be felt. Edo wanted to express this invisible sense by photographing a person in the room, and reducing her to an appeareance of a soul that is still there. This resulted in three different photo’s, the series ‘Wraith’.