Rik Versteeg and Ahmad Joudeh teamed up together to create this stunning series. Ahmad Joudeh is a ballet dancer from Syria living in Amsterdam. In October 2016, Ahmad moved to Amsterdam. He started dancing with the Dutch National Ballet. Now he is a freelance dancer and he’s working on a lot of projects.
This series is inspired by the remarkable style of the Triadisches ballet developed by Oskar Schlemmer in 1921. The ballet helped spread the ethics of the Bauhaus period and was one of its kind in history. In the ballet, the costume designers are using a lot of geometrical shapes, and the costumes are designed in a way that the dancers are extremely limited in their movements, which contradicts the ethics of dancing.
“As a visual artist, Rik Versteeg creates alternative realities through photography, film, and design. By using my intuition, I can create visuals that break with the rules of space and time, and that melts a diversity of styles together. Being part of the LGBTQIA+ community I do not conform to the heteronormative cisgender ideal image, this influences me consciously and unconsciously. Many of my projects, therefore, are connected with the LGBTQIA + community and reflect on the institutionalized heteronormative norm. I see my visuals as a countermovement and reaction to heteronormativity and public norms. Most of my inspiration is drawn from myths, theories, and social-political issues. The visuals I create have an aesthetic and styled feel which can be used for artistic and commercial purposes.”
Team
Photography, concept, set design, costume design by Studio Rik Versteeg
Instagram: @studiorikversteeg/ www.rikversteeg.com
Model is Ahmad Joudeh, Instagram: @ahmadjoudehofficial, www.ahmadjoudeh.com
Make-up artist is Ashely Prins, Instagram: @glam.byprins using Mac cosmetics, Morphe, Jefree Star Cosmetics.
Photography Assistant Marjolein van Schaik
Fashion:
Ahmad Joudeh, Studio Rik Versteeg & Cindy Damen, Rik Versteeg
