Ruud van Empel uses the medium of photography as an independent form of imagination. Every image consists of photo’s, taken by himself, that are digitally assembled on the computer. He works conceptual and has created a new genre within photography. In his series Untitled (2004) he explores the theme of innocence, the sequel series World (2005) and he uses a black child for the first time as a symbol of innocence. These works were inspired by photos taken during his own childhood by his father.

A typical feature of the work of Ruud van Empel is the composition of a perfected and idealized representation right down to the finest details. But this always has a darker side, albeit not always evident. Ruud van Empel has taken digital contruction of photograpy to a new level.

Ruud van Empel is a well-known visual artist and photographer. He graduated from the Breda Fine Arts School in the seventies, and started out working with video in the eighties. As he became skilled in photographic editing and collages, Ruud van Empel’s international reputation took off in 2006 with his series World-Moon-Venus, on display in New York. Since that time, he has exhibited all over the world including the FoMu in Antwerp, the MoPA in San Diego (USA), the Groninger Museum (NL) and the Fotografiska museum (SE). Today, he lives and works in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.