@memebartels.bsky.social
Photography - Artist’s books Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands www.memebartels.nl onephoto.substack.com
Can a photograph exist without author or art?
Lewis Baltz believed it could. Joachim Schmid never made it his central theme, yet his work quietly points in that direction. And then there’s me, who discovered another possibility entirely by accident. See: onephoto.substack.com
Representation or relation? Can a photograph simply show the world, or does it need to add meaning? In my new post on substack I reflect on Friedlander and Zhang Huan, and connect their work to my project Bleeding Red. See onephoto.substack.com
04.01.2026 16:24 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
If a single photograph cannot fully capture reality, can an archive of images come closer? Albert Kahn tried to capture the whole planet, Christiaan Boltanski his entire existence. I chose something smaller: the fleeting details of daily life. Continue reading on: onephoto.substack.com
05.12.2025 15:05 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Is the grid a vision or a rigid law?
In my new post on Substack I dive into the work of Ray K. Metzker and Andy Warhol, two artists who surrendered to the grid.
I keep returning to the grid myself.
Not as a rule, but as a way to hold on to the everyday.See onephoto.substack.com
Research or sheer beauty?
This week, I write on Substack about Medardo Rosso and Josef Albers—two artists who used photography not to document, but to think. For them, the camera was a tool for analysis, reflection, and transformation.
Read the full story via www.substack.com
Can a photograph truly tell a story?
This week on Substack I reflect on La Jetée, Paul Graham’s filmic haikus, and Jeff Wall’s staged tableaux. Three very different approaches, but all circling around the same question: how do images carry narrative meaning?
See onephoto.substack.com
In-or outsider?
Outsiders are not dependent on the market, they do what their hearts tells them and still dare to develop. “To dare is to lose your balance for a moment. Not daring is losing yourself”,says Kiergegaard. Read my post on Ed Ruscha and Luigi Ghirri on onephoto.substack.com
Can a single photo tell a full story?
I was in Arles and visited the exhibition of Letizia Battaglia. Some of her pictures reminded me of the work of Jeff Wall. I wrote a post about this and added a picture, that with some imagination, met certain critera of Walls pictures.
onephoto.substack.com
How is it that photography has, in so many cases, been reduced to something decorative for above the couch? In Gerry Badger’s book The Pleasure of Good Photographs the answer is given. In my newsletter I write about this and W.Shakespeare, who also has an opinion about it. onephoto.substack.com
22.06.2025 17:56 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
In my work, sequences take center stage. On Substack, I write about photography and explore the beauty of the single image. I’m not sure how it happened, but in my fourth post, I somehow return - once again- to sequences.
See: A Sequence or A Photo? at
onephoto.substack.com
Dear all,
How much text can a photo take? I wrote a post on Substack about Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Louis Draper and a photo I took in München 2011. See onephoto.substack.com
New post on Substack!
onephoto.substack.com
Tokyo 2017
11.04.2025 09:13 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Great initiative!
bsky.app/profile/flak...
Starting today I will write monthly about photography on Substack. Hope to see you there.
onephoto.substack.com
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
29.03.2025 22:38 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Great photographer!
28.03.2025 10:12 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Looks stunning!
28.03.2025 09:13 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0
Switzerland on the road, 2010
14.03.2025 12:52 — 👍 9 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Switzerland 2010
08.03.2025 17:22 — 👍 9 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Thank you for sharing!
01.03.2025 08:06 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Summer Holliday. Avenue Aéodat Vasseur at Quand Plage, Normandy. From my book La Mer, 2018
27.02.2025 11:43 — 👍 10 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0I have the same problem. Rate Limit Exceeded….
25.02.2025 14:05 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0On holiday in Brittany I gave myself an assignment. With found fishing net I made a matching fabric for each white house on the boulevard. Only for the white houses, because I liked them the most.
10.02.2025 21:43 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Avenue Maritime, Barneville Carteret, France, 2023. #photography #textile #art
10.02.2025 21:33 — 👍 11 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Amsterdam Sunset, February 2025
09.02.2025 15:31 — 👍 8 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Two years ago in my holiday home in Brittany I dove into Itten's colour contrasts and made a poster out of it.
07.02.2025 10:02 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Next Friday (Feb 7) the exhibition American Photography opens @rijksmuseum.bsky.social with also photos from product brochures. This photo by Schadde Brothers is from the brochure of Brandle & Smith Co., a candy manufacturer (ca.1915). Love it!
05.02.2025 09:44 — 👍 8 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
From my book Monochrome, 2016
04.02.2025 08:39 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
One day I took pictures of all the prints and patterns in the house. From Prints and Patterns, 2021.
02.02.2025 15:54 — 👍 7 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
