BHANU

For this series, De Middel set out to explore multiple aspects of the Sun: its shape and brightness, the shadows it casts, its color. In Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, De Middel created a phantasmagorical universe symbolizing the Sun and the emotional impact of sunlight. Amidst sand dunes and expanses of water, drawing on strong lighting, metaphorical shapes and bright colors, she created a theater of life, exuding warmth and abundance. With her trademark, conceptual approach to photography, De Middel stages scenes in the spirit of magical realism, in which a bright, yellow balloon, a lone horse, and golden threads convey a sense of utter stillness, or as if lightly brushed by a mystical wind. As if in a dream, all these elements come to life. Through her whimsical, imaginative lens, De Middel creates images that delicately and poetically convey feelings of joy, fulfillment, and freedom. In the presence of her epic tableaux, the viewer feels an overwhelming sense of plenitude and contentment: a lightness of being.