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Movement versus Stillness

It’s a breath of fresh air to see the non-compromising work of Jamain Brigitha. To be confronted with images that refer to a dance performance, but go much further than the performance itself. Beyond the intention of the choreographer or dancers. – Leontien Wiering, former director Dutch Dance Festival

Susan Sontag wrote in ‘On Photography’ (1977) that “People robbed of their past seem to make the most fervent picture-takers, at home and abroad.” This is certainly true for Jamain Brigitha. Her life started turbulent from the get go: she was born on Curaçao, the Netherlands Antilles, but moved to Sint Maarten when she was 2 years old and to the Netherlands when she was 7. The culture shock was huge. From the warm and colorful Caribbean, to the cold and gray Netherlands. Looking around her, seeing how others moved, talked, lived and worked, seemed the only way to survive. Because she observed everything around her, she automatically trained her photographic eye.

From an early age, she was literally moving. It is no coincidence that “movement versus stillness” plays an important role in her photography. This is most evident in her series ‘Movement[s] – The unity of the dancer, movement and space’ and ‘Movement[s] II – the unity of the body, movement and public space’. See her portfolio for an overview.

Jamain Brigitha, Exhibition Movement[s] Part II
Melkweg Gallery (2007)
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Photo © Maarten van Boven

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