Hama Gallery is presenting Dutch photographer Melissa Schriek's work at Paris Photo 2025, featuring her distinctive approach to capturing the female form and experience through a blend of photography and performative staging. Schriek's artistic journey began during a childhood field trip when her father gave her a disposable camera, sparking a lifelong fascination with the medium that has evolved from simple memory-making to complex artistic expression.

Schriek's early relationship with photography was rooted in documentation rather than artistic creation. She recalls spending that first day with her disposable camera carefully composing shots and directing her classmates against selected backgrounds. Recognizing her genuine interest, her father later provided her with a small point-and-shoot digital camera to encourage her continued exploration. Throughout most of her school years, photography served primarily as a tool for preserving memories, with the act of taking photographs holding more significance than the final images themselves.

The photographer's artistic perspective underwent a fundamental transformation when she entered the Royal Academy of Art The Hague. This marked a pivotal shift from strictly documenting reality to exploring the liminal space between truth and fiction. She began intensively investigating the relationship between the sculptural qualities of human bodies and their surrounding environments, drawing upon body awareness skills developed through previous dance and gymnastics training to inform her understanding of movement and form.

For her graduation project, Schriek positioned draped bodies in various poses throughout urban spaces, examining how human forms interact with and relate to their environments. This work established the foundation for her ongoing focus on performative staging of models, primarily in public spaces. She deliberately collaborates with individuals who are eager to explore the boundaries of physical expression and the communicative power of gestures and body language.

Despite the dreamlike and surreal qualities that characterize her imagery, Schriek maintains that human stories remain at the core of her work. She insists that her photographs must still appear as scenarios that could realistically occur, grounding her artistic vision in believable human experiences. Her latest series, captured in Japan, continues to reflect her fascination with the expressive potential of the female form while challenging cultural norms and perceptions.

The Japan series specifically focuses on capturing moments of liberation and empowerment among women. By providing women with a platform in front of her camera, Schriek fosters a sense of agency and self-expression within public spaces. This approach aligns with her broader artistic mission of exploring how people, particularly women, relate to their environment, themselves, and others around them.

Schriek's creative process involves juggling multiple projects simultaneously, with an intuitive approach to abandoning those that lose their appeal or seem better suited for future exploration. Her residency at Hama Gallery provided her with opportunities to experiment with the fusion of photography and painting, adding new layers of texture and meaning to her images. "Painting over my images became very interesting. I can really try to understand the images again and tell the story," she explains.

The photographer draws inspiration from everyday life, observing how people walk, dress, move, and interact with one another. She describes her ability to find interest in mundane objects and hyperfocus on seemingly ordinary details. This attention to the commonplace allows her work to invite viewers to question the boundaries between photography and painting while considering the subjective nature of perception and the significance of everyday experiences.

Female relationships and community hold particular significance in Schriek's artistic vision. "I've always been inspired by the women in my life. I see female friendship and female togetherness as something unique. It's very difficult to explain and that's why I try to photograph it," she states. This dedication to portraying the complexities of female experience remains a constant thread throughout her evolving body of work.

Schriek's commitment to exploring women's experiences continues to drive her artistic practice. "I still photograph mostly women for my own work. It still holds so much interest for me," she affirms, demonstrating her unwavering focus on capturing and interpreting the multifaceted nature of female identity and relationships in contemporary society.