Dutch Artist Takes Photos That Look Exactly Like Paintings

Dutch photographer Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk takes stunning photographs that mimic Renaissance paintings to a tee. In fact, at first glance, you wouldn’t even believe they were photos!

The artist began her career as a goldsmith and launched her photographic practice in 2016. Inspired by an Old Masters aesthetic, she uses lighting to bring out a painterly feeling in her work.

Combining the traditional Renaissance techniques of chiaroscuro and sfumato, Woud-Binnendijk is able to capture her subjects in such a way that they appear to be painted on a canvas as opposed to captured on film. (Chiaroscuro is an artistic technique of contrasting light and dark to enhance the figure and add to the drama of the piece. Sfumato is a manner of shading that produces delicate and seamless transitions between the colours in a work).

Sometimes, Woud-Binnendijk recreates historical artworks in her images. Such is the case with her stunning rendition of Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Her version of the iconic work showcases a young child as ‘the girl,’ but the shadows and highlights in the piece truly trick the eyes into thinking they’re looking at an oil painting.

Woud-Binnendijk tends to work with children and young adults as models in her practice. The result is a youthful and fresh element brought to old-school-looking artworks, thus reinvigorating Old Masters’ style with a contemporary flair.

Of course, the artist also uses Photoshop to achieve some of her magical effects. Her editing skills are all self-taught, which is impressive in and of itself.

These images are just dreamy and we can’t wait to see what technique Woud-Binnendijk will come up with next!

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