Girl

IRL Elizabeth Koetje

GIRL Elizabeth Koetje

“When in huge spaces, I don’t feel small, I feel big.”

Emma Jo Jansen van Rensburg

6

Peek

nevada, usa

8

No Show Today

nevada, usa

10

Through the Arches

mafra, portugal

20

Feather Grass

amsterdam, the netherlands

22

Vegas Taxi

nevada, usa

44

Glimpse

nevada, usa

46

Farm Sunset

the orange free state, south africa

48

Gathering of Birds

bregenz, austria

64

Tower Power

barcelona, spain

Growth

madrid, spain

66

Incense

macau

68

Fountain of Youth

travemĂźnde, germany

108

Shepherdess

the orange free state, south africa

122

Burst

beausoleil, france

124

These photographs are of your daughter between the ages of four and twelve, spanning a period of eight years. When you look at the images, how do they compare with your own childhood?

There are many similarities and of course many differences too, as one would expect. Some of these I celebrate and some concern me. We are the product of so many things - genetics, family, society, environment, love, education, experiences and I’m sure much more. Broadly speaking, I’d say that the images emulate much of my childhood.

Paul van Mameren in conversation with Elizabeth Koetje (Paul is the publisher of this book)

So this was a nostalgic process?

Very much so. I was born in the Seventies and spent my childhood in Pretoria, South Africa. It was, to say the least, bliss. My home was nestled at the foot of a hill and my first steps turned in one direction - up the hill. The dense bush did not make it an easy climb to the top, but I found my way to my favourite rock overlooking the city nearly every day. I was somewhat of a loner and my parents hardly ever saw me. School holidays and weekends were meant for getting up early, gulping down breakfast and then heading hastily for the outdoors, only to find my way back home when hungry. After a whole day spent outside, my mother would call me from the kitchen door. More than often, I had no inclination to go back inside, so I just ignored her.

Is this how your child grew up?

Not at all. From the moment my daughter was born, I embarked on a journey with her that was worlds apart from the challenges of my parents, or rather the lack of them. I raised my child in an overcrowded, cosmopolitan city in the Netherlands that made the harsh African bush look like paradise. The spacious grounds of my childhood were replaced with a tiny apartment and a concrete playground down the street with a slide and a swing. No more hills to climb as the Netherlands is famous for its flatness - an African hill can easily be mistaken for a modest mountain.

Besides a contrasting milieu, what else was different?

Elizabeth Koetje set out to capture moments of girlhood until the dawn of teenagehood. Thus, a photographic journey with her daughter began. Over a period of eight years, a body of work emerged showing a solitary girl in spaces varying from vast desert plains to narrow city sidewalks. The images are, for the most part, romantic and dream-like with implied narratives of freedom, curiosity, discovery and adventure.