Gerco de Ruijter (b. 1961)

De Ruijter's aerial photographs of the Dutch countryside are taken by a camera hung beneath a kite. He omits the traditional process of looking through the viewfinder and pushing the button. His subversive approach to photography allows chance to play an integral role -- time and again, he is surprised when he develops his film. These unmanned views are composed of textures, shapes, colours and patterns. In cropping his photographs to a square format, De Ruijter further underscores the flattened, abstract quality of his images.

De Ruijter studied at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. His works have been shown internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including Dutch Dare and Nature as Artifice. He is the recipient of the Grand Prix Européen de la Ville de Vevey. De Ruijter lives and works in Rotterdam.