Historical researcher Estelle Slegers Helsen (Belgium, 1965) rediscovered her passion for photography after moving to the UK in 2018. For her, photography is a tool to explore the outdoors and immerse herself in the moment by observing scenes and the changing light. Taking photographs is meditation, a practice that clears her mind. She draws influence from the concepts of solitude, transience and time, which shape her visual language to capture woodlands, hills, water and solitary objects.
She is currently working on three projects.
1. Fine art photography project
In Leaving the Land, photographer Estelle Slegers Helsen takes you on a journey along the coast and captures what your eyes can see and not see as they move from land out to sea. She evokes the liminal place where land and sea meet. Through long-exposure photography, she creates a soothing depiction of the sea, embodying stillness, serenity and simplicity. The visible becomes invisible while your eyes focus on what you can’t see. See https://newtraces.myportfolio.com/leaving-the-land
2. Then and now photography project
Photography is an essential part of the Travel in Time project. Old photographs/postcards and new remakes taken from the same spot serve as visual cues to talk to local people, asking about their recollections and sharing their stories of the past, present and future of the places featured. See http://www.travelintime.uk
3. Places changing through time
Fixed point photography is an effective and easy method of recording and monitoring visual change. Set points are selected within the landscape, often determined by specific (future) features. At regular time intervals, photographs are taken from the same point and position each time. Photographs can then be compared with one another over the following months and years. With fixed point photography Estelle Slegers Helsen highlights changes through time.
